Background: In under developed and developing countries, hearing problems and ear issues are generally neglected. Therefore there is the need of the era for prompt diagnosis and management along with adequate awareness and knowledge amongst the subjects. The aim of the present study was to determine the most commonly seen ear disorders that can cause hearing impairment in semi urban areas.

Materials and Methods: The survey included all the subjects between 5-60 years of age. For right and left ear audiometric threshold were established. Pure tone average value was used to determine the threshold scores. For this purpose Amplivox audiometer was used. Complete examination of the ear was done to determine the cause of hearing impairment. All the data was arranged in a tabulated form and analysed using SPSS software. Frequency distribution of all the data was done.

Results: The present study enrolled 300 subjects, out of which 100 were between 5-15 years of age and 20 were between 16-60 years of age. There were 47% subjects between 5-15 years of age and 24% subjects between 16-60 years of with ear disease. There were 7% subjects between 5-15 years of age and 18% subjects between 16-60 years of with infectious disease. Ear disease were frequently seen in children and the most common cause of impairment was Chronic suppurative otitis, seen in 45% (n=135).

Conclusion: From the study it is clear that, ear diseases are very common amongst the subjects of the district. The most common cause of hearing impairment being chronic otitis media in our study.

Keywords: Disease, Impairment, Hearing, suppurative.

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Dr F.H. Gauri

Principal Specialist (M.D. Medicine),

Government D.B. General Hospital, Churu, Rajasthan, India