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Table 1 Study key characteristics and findings

From: Prevalence of hearing loss and use of hearing aids among children and adolescents in Germany: a systematic review

Studies Study design Year of data collection Geographical region Population Definition of hearing loss Prevalence (%)
Setting (including study sample) Age (years) N
Studies based on self-reported hearing loss by child or caregiver (using a questionnaire)
 EuroTraka 2017 [15] cross-sectional (prospective) 2015 Germany “balanced” sample (in respect to age, sex and geographical region) ≤14 1323 any hearing impairment/loss 3.1
 WaBoLu 1993 [16] cross-sectional (prospective) 1991 Germany random sample (residents’ registration office) 18–19 505 any hearing impairment/loss 1.0 “no differences in gender and academic levels”
 Stange 1992 [17] cross-sectional (prospective) 1985 Former West Germany random sample (households) 15–19 310 any hearing impairment/loss 4.0
Studies reporting hearing loss measured in screening programs
 KiGGS 2009 [18] cross-sectional (prospective) 2003–2006 Germany random sample (school children, residents’ registration office) 8–14 959 > 20 dB HL (1–6 kHz) uni- and/or bilateral 12.8
> 30 dB HL (1–6 kHz) uni- and/or bilateral 2.4
 RKI 2006 [19] cross-sectional (retrospective) 1991–2002 Baden-Württemberg preschool children participating in a screening program 4–5 1991: 96,641b > 30 dB HL (0.5–6.0 kHz) uni- and/or bilateral 3.9
1992: 104,615 3.9
1993: 106,000 3.9
1994: 105,150 4.0
1995: 106,805 4.1
1996: 108,063 4.8
1997: 100,063 4.8
1998: 109,391 4.6
1999: 101,590 4.4
2000: 98,822 4.5
2001: 100,058 5.2
2002: 103,489 4.7
 Kruppa 1995 [20] cross-sectional (prospective) 1988 Former West Germany preschool children participating in a screening program 6–7 2032 > 20 dB HL (0.5–5.0 kHz) uni- and/or bilateral 7.4
Studies reporting hearing loss based on data collected in registries
 Destatis 2015 [21] cross-sectional (retrospective) 2015 Germany source population:
children/adolescents living in Germany
cases:
data from the disability statistics 		0–18 14,198,848 deafness (not further defined) 0.01
 Neubauer 2011 [22] cross-sectional (retrospective) 2010 Germany source population:
children/adolescents living in Germany
cases:
patient data/ICD coding transmitted for invoicing 		0–18 nr ICD codingc
uni- and/or bilateral 		4.0
 DZH 2003 [23,24,25] cross-sectional (retrospective) 1996–2000 Germany source population:
children living in Germany
cases:
patient data / diagnoses of selected ENT doctors transferred data to the DZHd 		nr nr permanent hearing loss (not further defined) uni- and/or bilateral 0.12
 Streppel 2000 [26,27,28] cross-sectional (retrospective) 1992–1993 [28] Cologne and surroundings source population:
children/adolescents living in Cologne and surroundings
cases:
impaired children/adolescents attending special institutes i 		2–19 738,500 ≥40 dB HL (0.5–4.0 kHz) bilateral 0.04
(% males: 53.5)
moderate: 40–70 dB HL 12.1
severe: 70–95 dB HL 20.7
profound: 95 dB HL 67.2
 CRM 1982 [29, 30] cross-sectional (retrospective) 1977 Former West Germany source population:
children born in 1969
cases:
not clear which registry was used to identify cases 		8 903,456 > 50 dB HL (0.5–2.0 kHz) uni- and/or bilateral 0.08
(% males: 56.1)
  1. CRM Committee on Medical and Public Health Research; dB HL decibel hearing level; Destatis Federal Statistical Office of Germany; DZH German Registry for Hearing Loss in Children; ICD International classification of diseases; kHz Kilohertz; KiGGS German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents; RKI Robert-Koch-Institute (German Public Health Institute); WaBoLu Institute for Water-, Ground- and Air-Hygiene; PTA Pure Tone Audiometry
  2. aSince 2009 the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA; www.ehima.com) has carried out surveys approximately every three years to determine hearing status and hearing aid usage in Europe over different age groups. The surveys are carried out by questionnaires and are designed to be comparable with the MarkeTrak surveys carried out in the USA
  3. bNumbers available at: https://www-genesis.destatis.de/genesis/online/link/tabellen/12411
  4. cICD-10: H 83.3: noise effects on the inner ear; H 83.8: other specified diseases on the inner ear; H 83.9: disease of the inner ear, unspecified; H 90–H 90.8: conductive and sensorineural hearing loss; H 91.0–H 91.9: other hearing loss
  5. dMainly data from clinics, but also from outpatient facilities (112 institutions)
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