Study on prevalence of hearing loss among the adult population in the Audiologic Centers of Reggio Emilia, Ravenna and Forlì in 2018

Objective. This study try to found the prevalence and the characteristics of hearing loss in the adult population of the province of Reggio Emilia, Ravenna and Forlì area of the province of Forlì-Cesena in 2018. Methods. This is a retrospective multicentre research, conducted by the UOC of ENT of Arcispedale Santa Maria Nuova in Reggio Emilia, Santa Maria delle Croci Hospital in Ravenna and Morgagni Pierantoni Hospital in Forlì. All the pure tone audiometric tests performed in 2018 related to the adult population resident in these areas were considered for this study. Patients were divided in three groups based on type and severity of hearing loss. The prevalence of hearing loss was calculated as the proportion of the general adult population (ISTAT datas). Results. The result is an average value of the prevalence of stable, disabling hearing loss in the population equal to 6.4 ‰ (2431 individuals). The data is substantially uniform: 6.9 ‰ in Romagna, 5.3 ‰ in the province of Reggio Emilia. Conclusion. The results of this study suggest that the prevalence of moderate, severe and profound hearing loss in Italian population is very high. Unfortunately, there are no other Italian studies to have a term of comparison with the past.