A Preliminary Report of the Audiological Profile of Hearing Impaired Pupils in Inclusive Schools in Lagos State, Nigeria

Authors

  • Chinyere Nkiruka Asoegwu Surgery Department, College of Medicine, University of Lagos; Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos
  • Loretta U Ogban Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos
  • Clement C Nwawolo University of Lagos, Lagos; Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5463/dcid.v30i2.821

Keywords:

hearing impairment, inclusive education, audiology, pure tone audiometry, sign language

Abstract

Purpose: The programme to enrol hearing impaired pupils in inclusive schools in Lagos State, Nigeria, has been endorsed recently and is at a transitional phase. The study assessed the audiological profile of the enrolled pupils with hearing impairment.

Methods: After a random selection of 7 designated inclusive primary schools in Lagos State, a two-stage study was conducted. First, a questionnaire documenting audiological history was administered to the pupils with hearing impairment. This was followed by pure tone audiometry.

Results: Study participants were between 4 and 26 years of age (mean 12.8±4.1). About 158 (96.9%) of them had bilateral profound hearing loss. Method of communication for 132 (81%) was by sign language, followed by lip reading for 56(34.4%).

Conclusion: Severity of hearing impairment was profound among this category of enrolled students. Most of them had probably been transferred from schools for the Deaf to inclusive schools. Less severe degrees of hearing impairment may have been detected if audiological assessment had been mandatory for all the school children.

Author Biographies

Chinyere Nkiruka Asoegwu, Surgery Department, College of Medicine, University of Lagos; Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos

Lecturer, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Lagos; and Consultant Otorhinolaryngologist, University of Lagos, Lagos University Teaching Hospital.
Nigeria

 

Chinyere Asoegwu holds MBBS degree from University of Nigeria Nsukka, fellowships of both West African College of Surgeons and National Post Graduate College of Medicine in Otorhinolaryngology. Her thesis was on Otitis Media with Effusion in Children attending day care centers in Lagos State. Her research interests include chronic rhinosinusitis, hearing loss, disability and skull base pathologies. She is a senior consultant vast in nasal and skull base surgeries.

Loretta U Ogban, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos

Loretta Ogban holds a B.Ed degree in Special Education and M.Ed degree in Special Education (audiology and speech pathology) from University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She has been working in Lagos University Teaching Hospital for 22 years as an Audiologist and has risen to the post of Director.  

 

 

Clement C Nwawolo, University of Lagos, Lagos; Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos

Clement C Nwawolo holds MBBS degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria; fellowship of both West African College of Surgeons and National Post Graduate College of Medicine in Otorhinolaryngology. He was part of the informal consultation on the epidemiology of deafness and hearing impairment in developing countries and update of the WHO protocol in Geneva in 2003. His inaugural lecture was delivered in 2018 on A tripartite of routes into the human body: Their crucial role in health. He has over 80 publications in different aspects of otorhinolaryngology. His research interest includes hearing loss, chronic suppurative otitis media, chronic rhinosinusitis, allergic rhinitis, neck injuries and surgical education.

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Published

2019-10-04

How to Cite

1.
Asoegwu CN, Ogban LU, Nwawolo CC. A Preliminary Report of the Audiological Profile of Hearing Impaired Pupils in Inclusive Schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. DCIDJ [Internet]. 2019 Oct. 4 [cited 2024 Nov. 7];30(2):95-103. Available from: https://dcidj.uog.edu.et/index.php/up-j-dcbrid/article/view/334

Issue

Section

Brief reports