The assessment of hearing impairment among healthy children in rural and urban areas in China

ObjectiveTo investigate the auditory function of healthy children and provide experimental data to protect children's hearing in China.MethodsTotal of 191 normally growing children (6–12 years old) in Qinling mountain area, the pasturing area around Qinghai Lake and Nanjing city were randomly included in this study. The whole-frequency auditory thresholds of these children were examined.ResultsThere was significant difference between the boys’ and girls’ auditory thresholds at nearly the whole frequencies in the Qinling area. Significant difference was also found between the boys’ and girls’ auditory thresholds at high frequencies and super high frequencies in the pasturing area around Qinghai Lake. Overall, the girls’ auditory function was much better than the boys’. In contrast, there was no significant difference between the boys’ and girls’ auditory thresholds in Nanjing city. The auditory thresholds in high frequencies and super high frequencies of the boys in Nanjing city were lower than those of the boys in mountain and plateau pasturing areas, while there was no significant difference of the girls’ auditory thresholds between city and rural areas except for a few low frequencies.ConclusionsHearing impairment was found in Chinese children of rural areas, especially among the boys. Since the children in rural areas should have no chance to be exposed to the modern industrial noises, it is most likely that the impulse noises from firecrackers caused the partial loss of hearings.