Common causes of hearing impairment among children less than 8 years of age in District Bahawalpur, Punjab Pakistan Authors Safdar Ali Department of Audiology, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur, Pakistan Muhammad Sikander Ghayas Khan Department of Health Professional Technologies, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan Laiba Zahid Department of Health Professional Technologies, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan DOI: https://doi.org/10.47391/JPMA.3879 Abstract Objective: To find out the common causes of hearing loss among young children, and to compare the causes along gender lines. Method: The cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2020 to March 2021 at two government hospitals and one private clinic in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, and comprised children of either gender aged <8 years with complaint of decreased hearing. They were examined and tested for hearing impairment. Data was analysed using SPSS 22. Results: Of the 328 subjects, 164(50%) each were girls and boys. The overall mean age was 4.20±2.08 years. Sensorineural hearing loss was found in 178(54.3%), cases, conductive in 118(36%) and mixed type in 32(9.8%). Otitis media with effusion 89(27.1%) was the commonest cause of hearing impairment, followed by consanguinity 73(22.3%). There was no significant difference between the male and female children (p>0.05). Conclusion: Otitis media with effusion was the commonest cause of hearing impairment, followed by consanguinity. Gender had no significant role to play in this regard. Key Words: Hearing impairment, Children, Otitis media with effusion, Consanguinity, Bahawalpur. Author Biographies Safdar Ali, Department of Audiology, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur, Pakistan ENT department Audiologist Muhammad Sikander Ghayas Khan, Department of Health Professional Technologies, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan Department of Health Professional Technologies, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences Associate Professor, Board Certified Aphasia Therapist, General Secretary Pakistan Speech and Language Pathologist Association Laiba Zahid, Department of Health Professional Technologies, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan Department of Health Professional Technologies, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences Lecturer, Operation Theatre Technologist Downloads Full Text Article Published 2022-02-23 How to Cite Safdar Ali, Muhammad Sikander Ghayas Khan, & Laiba Zahid. (2022). Common causes of hearing impairment among children less than 8 years of age in District Bahawalpur, Punjab Pakistan. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 72(8), 1544–1546. https://doi.org/10.47391/JPMA.3879 More Citation Formats ACM ACS APA ABNT Chicago Harvard IEEE MLA Turabian Vancouver Download Citation Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX Issue Vol. 72 No. 8 (2022): AUGUST Section Original Article