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Disability from chronic ear disease in Nepal assessed using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 instrument

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2021

J Rudd*
Affiliation:
ENT Department, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, UK
R Bohara
Affiliation:
Britain Nepal Otology Service Ear Health Community Service, Nepalgunj, Nepal
R Youngs
Affiliation:
International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
R W J Mcleod
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Wales, UK
H A Elhassan
Affiliation:
ENT Department, Homerton University Hospital Foundation Trust, London, UK
U Gurung
Affiliation:
Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal
*
Author for correspondence: Dr James Rudd, ENT Department, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Great Ormond Street, LondonWC1N 3JH, UK E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Objective

Globally, South Asia has the highest proportion of disabling hearing loss. There is a paucity of data exploring the associated hearing loss and disability caused by chronic middle-ear disease in South Asia in the setting of surgical outreach. This study aimed to measure disability using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 in patients undergoing ear surgery for chronic middle-ear disease in an ear hospital in Nepal.

Method

The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 was translated into Nepali and administered by interview to patients before ear surgery, and results were correlated with pre-operative audiograms.

Results

Out of a total of 106 patients with a mean age of 23 years, the mean World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 score was 17.7, and the highest domain scores were for domain 6 ‘participation in society’ at a score of 34. There was a positive correlation of World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2 score with hearing level (r = 0.46).

Conclusion

Patients with ear disease in Nepal have had their disability measured using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0. Our study demonstrated a correlation between impaired hearing and disability in a surgical outreach context, which was an expected but not previously reported finding.

Type
Main Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Dr J Rudd takes responsibility for the integrity of the content of the paper

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