A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY TO IDENTIFY THE FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DEAFNESS IN DEAF-MUTE CHILDREN ATTENDING CALCUTTA DEAF AND DUMB SCHOOL

Background: Deafness is complete or profound loss of hearing. It can affect one ear or both ears. This condition can be congenital or acquired. Causes of deafness includes genetic factors, injury, age related changes, expose to loud noise, etc. Deafness significantly impairs the speech, which makes the communication difficult. Thus, hearing loss has significant effects on the development of a child’s ability to learn, to communicate, and to socialize, which can be devastating. Objects: To perform a questionnaire-based survey of the parents of children attending special schools for deaf and dumb, to find out the major medical, socio‑demographic, and health service‑related risk factors along with the most prevalent cause of deafness. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted on students of different age group of Calcutta Deaf and Dumb School, West Bengal, India. A special questionnaire was developed and related information was recorded there about the factors of their deafness. Results: Almost half of the participants had acquired deafness; rest were congenitally deaf and dumb. Different causes of deafness were emerged in this study. Among these causes, maternal diseases during pregnancy, neonatal fever was frequently emerged. Different risk factors during antenatal, perinatal and postnatal period were found in this study. Conclusion: The findings in the present study highlight the risk factors and causes of deafness among the children. There is a considerable need for the prevention and treatment of the causes among deaf, mute, children.