Investigating Hearing Impairment in the Elderly Population of Rural Areas of Rasht City, North of Iran

Abstract Aging is a physiological process, and it seems that Iranian population progresses to old aging more rapidly. Hearing loss is the most common otolaryngologic manifestation of aging, with direct and indirect expenditure for both the individuals and systems, that remains far from attention in many cases. Evaluation of audiologic disorders in geriatric population of rural areas of Rasht city, Guilan province in north of Iran, given the importance of the issue. In this descriptive cross-sectional study performed in 2013, we randomly selected 35 rural areas and then, elderly population of those areas were selected randomly, with informed consent obtained from them and then they were examined by general practitioners, ENT specialists, and an audiologist. Data were recorded and analyzed. Of the 421 geriatric cases (52.8% male and 47.2% female), 324 underwent audiological testing. Sensorineural hearing loss in the right or left ear of 290 cases (89.5%), conductive hearing loss in 13 ears (4.01%), normal hearing in 20 (6.17%), and mixed hearing loss in one ear (0.3%) were detected. As revealed, 263 (90.68%) were with mild to moderate hearing loss, and 27 (9.31%) had severe hearing impairment. The pattern of hearing loss was in higher frequencies (247 cases: 76.23%), flat hearing loss in 53 patients (16.35%), and in the low frequencies in 4 cases (1.23%), as observed. In the elderly population living in rural areas in Rasht city, hearing disorders are relatively common and noticeable.