PURPOSE: to characterize the epidemiological profile of patients attending the Hearing Center of Petrolina-PE by gender, age, city where they reside and type of hearing loss, in 2009. METHOD: all patients treated at the Hearing Center of Petrolina-PE in 2009 took part in this study, totaling 553 subjects. We considered only the records with complete data and audiological findings, with this being the criteria for inclusion in the study. We excluded 73 subjects whose records were incomplete. RESULTS: the sample consisted of 480 medical records, namely: 55.2% (265) were female and 44.8% (215) male. Regarding age, we noted that the mean age was 49.1 years, ranging between 4 and 93 years. The population distribution according to type of hearing loss was 220 (22.9%) ears with normal hearing thresholds, 572 (59.5%) with sensorineural hearing loss, 134 (13.9%) and 34 mixed (3.5%) conductive. Regarding the city of origin of the participants, the study showed 392 (81.6%) subjects residing in Petrolina and 82 (18.4%) in other Pernambuco cities. CONCLUSION: this study showed that hearing loss was predominantly sensorineural. Regarding gender, there was a female predominance. there was a considerable number of people with hearing loss over 60 year old, and such being the case, showing the need for a rehabilitation program for the elder.
Hearing Loss; Deafness; Health Services Epidemiology
