Evaluation of hearing health in children with HIV/AIDS Avaliação da saúde auditiva em crianças com HIV/AIDS

Purpose: To evaluate the hearing capacity of children with HIV/AIDS and its association to patient age and time of diagnosis. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study included 23 children with HIV/AIDS monitored in two specialized medical centers in Joao Pessoa, Brazil. The children underwent basic audiometric evaluation (audiometry and immittance measurements), and the findings were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee, protocol number 343/11. Results: The audiometric examination detected 39 abnormal ears, which had a high incidence of mild hearing loss. Among the immittance measurements, a type B curve was the most prevalent, followed by curve types A and C, respectively. There was an association between the hearing loss type to both the patient age and the time of HIV diagnosis, with a significant difference for both variables (p<0.001). Conclusion: Children with HIV/AIDS experience hearing loss correlated with their age and time of initial infection. Education of the family and the HIV-infected child is clearly needed on measures that can be adopted to preserve hearing health.