A Survey of Hearing Impairment in Inclusion Schools in Kenya

In Kenya, screening for hearing is not routinely done. As such, hearing impairment goes widely unchecked. The objective of the study was to determine the level of hearing loss among children with and without hearing disability (HD) in Nairobi, Kenya. The study was conducted in inclusive primary schools which had both deaf and non-deaf children. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Eighty-one children who met the inclusion criteria and were attending deaf units in city primary schools were recruited. Matching was done for age and gender with eighty-one non-deaf children. The childrens ages ranged from 5 to 15 years, with a mean age of 10.3 years. Out of the 81 children with disability, 36 (44.4 %) were males and 45 (55.6 %) were females. Fifty-eight (71.61 %) had profound hearing impairment, 21 (25.93 %) had severe hearing impairment, and 2 (2.46 %) had moderate hearing impairment. Of those without disability, 7 (8.64 %) had slight hearing impairment while 74 (91.36 %) had no hearing impairment. In age-groups 5-7 years and 14-15 years, majority of children with HD were males; 8 (53.33 %) and 7 (58.33 %) respectively. However in age groups 8-10 years and 11-13 years, majority of children with HD were females; 17 (65.38 %) and 16 (57.14 %) respectively. These results were identical among the comparison group, due to matching. The study concluded that though profound hearing disability is the most prevalent, seven children attending the mainstream school who were believed to have no disorder were found to have slight hearing impairment. This is of concern and may call for introduction of a screening program for all children at various levels while in school.