Original scientific paper
Minor Physical Anomalies in Children with Hearing Impairment and Normal Controls
Zlatko Ulovec
; University of Zagreb, School of Dental Medicine, Department of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Zagreb, Croatia
Tomislav Skrinjaric
; University of Zagreb, School of Dental Medicine, Department of Pedodontics, Zagreb, Croatia
Jelka Jukic
; University of Zagreb, School of Dental Medicine, Department of Pedodontics, Zagreb, Croatia
Dunja Skoko-Poljak
; Ministry of Health, Health Protection Directorate, Zagreb, Croatia
Zlatka Roksandic Vrancic
; University of Rijeka, School of Medicine, Department of Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
The aim of this research was to assess differences in the frequency of individual minor phyisical anomalies (MPA) between healthy controls and children with hearing impairment (HI) and to find out whether some MPAs are more informative in discriminating between two groups than cumulative Waldrop’s scores. The aim was also to investigate the influence of gender on MPA in children with HI and those with normal hearing (NH). The study was carried out on a sample of 424 children (121 children with hearing impairment (82 boys and 39 girls) aged from 5 to 18 and 303 healthy schoolchildren with normal hearing (152 boys and 151 girls) aged from 8 to 16). In HI children, the mean
value of MPA was 2.2 times higher than in the controls. Binary Logistic Regression Model is entirely (with all 18 predictors) statistically significant, that is, it recognizes partial deafness The comparisons between the studied groups of boys and girls HI and boys and girls NH showed a higher relative involvement of MPA in boys than in girls. MPA comparison of HI boys versus NH boys and HI girls versus NH girls according to topographic regions revealed that for HI children there were higher mean scores than for the same-sex controls from all regions, but differences are particularly pronounced in the ear and tongue region. However and that the difference is statistically significant for the majority of regions but this difference tended to be more pronounced in girls with relatively better expressed peripheral dysmorphia in the former and craniofacial dysmorphia in the latter. From the obtained results, it can be seen that in HI children, common
etiological factors were probably in effect leading to physical anomalies and hearing impairments. Given the present findings of increased MPAs in HI children, further investigations are necessary to determine whether these developmental abnormalities arise from genetic factors or as a consequence of nvironmental influences.
Keywords
abnormalities; epidemiology; gender; developmental disorders; hearing disorders; minor physical anomalies
Hrčak ID:
94887
URI
Publication date:
27.12.2012.
Visits: 1.375 *