Ear Diseases and Hearing in the Thai Elderly Popula
tion. Part II. A One Year Follow-up Study
CHAWEEWAN BUNNAG, M.D.*, SUNANTA POLPATHAPEE, M.D.*,
SUCHITRA PRASANSUK, M.D.*, CHANA SIRIYANANDA, M.D.*,
APINAN NA NAKORN, M.D.*, CHEERASOOK CHONGKOLWATANA, M.D.*,
PERAPUN JAREONCHARSRI, M.D.*, KITIRAT UNGKANON, M.D.*,
SUVAJANA ATIPAS, M.D.*, SAMUT CHONGVISAL, M.D.*,
THANA ANGSUWARANGSEE, M.D.*, PHA WIN KESKOOL, M.D.*,
PRAYUTH TANSURIYAWONG, M.D.*, WEERACHAI TANTINIKORN, M.D.*,
M.L.KUNTHONG THONGYAI, M.D.*
Affiliation : * Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok I 0700, Thailand.
AbstractThe ear and hearing survey of the Thai elderly in 14 urban communities around Siriraj
Hospital was repeated one year after the first survey in order to detect any changes. Altogether 556
elderly people came for follow-up examination, 191 were males, 365 were females, the average
age was 68.2 yeas (60-88 years). Ear disease was diagnosed by ENT specialists in 80 cases which
implied that the prevalence of ear disease was 14.4 per cent. This was not statistically significantly
different from the prevalence of ear disease in the survey conducted in the previous year and although
the elderly who had ear diseases in the first survey had already been treated, the prevalence did
not decrease. Some elderly people only had ear diseases in this survey. Hearing evaluation by pure
tone audiometry was performed in 549 elders. There were 12.4 per cent who had bilateral, moderate
to severe hearing loss which was 2.9 per cent higher than in the previous survey. The hearing level
had also deteriorated in 14.3 per cent of the elderly people. Tympanometry was performed in 556
cases and showed that 10.5 per cent had a conductive hearing loss. When audiometry and tympano
metry of the same elderly people were evaluated together, 49.2 per cent of them had a sensori
neural hearing loss, 3 per cent had a conductive hearing loss and 6.5 per cent had a conductive or
mixed type hearing loss. When the results of audiometry were compared with the self identifica
tion/perception of their hearing reported by the elderly in the questionnaires, they were not reliable.
In conclusion, a one-year follow-up study of the prevalence of ear disease and hearing impairment
in the elderly showed that the prevalence of ear disease was still high and had not changed signifi
cantly. Concerning hearing impairment, not only had the prevalence increased, but also the severity
of hearing loss. Therefore, the authors stress the need to implement the "Ear and Hearing Care" pro
gram for the elderly both in rural and urban communities at least once a year in order to improve
quality of life of the elderly Thai people and to prevent complications of ear disease.
Keywords : Ear Diseases, Hearing, Thai Elderly, One Year Follow-up
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