Hearing and special senses among Aboriginals

Hearing and special senses among Aboriginals
Introduction
The high incidence of ear disorders and associated hearing complications among the Aboriginal
and Torres Islander peoples of Australia has been in existence since the 1970s, after colonization.
In the 80s it was categorized as a public health issue for the Indigenous Australians (Closing the
Gap Clearinghouse (AIHW & AIFS, 2014). Hearing loss is likely to be caused by genetic
problems, birth complications, some communicable illnesses, acute ear infections, the
consumption of some drugs, accidents and injuries, ageing and exposure to very loud noise.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2017) hearing loss among children is
caused by preventable causes (WHO 2017). The most common hearing problem among the
Aboriginal people is otitis media. The Aboriginal children are the most affected with otitis media
globally and are 5 times more likely to have the disease than other Australians. Otitis media have
critical long-term impacts such as delay in speech and vocal development leading to challenges
in learning, behavioural issues and general challenges in education progression. The high
prevalence of otitis media among Aboriginal and Torres Islander people has been attributed to
the social determinants of health, poor nutrition and hygiene and overcrowded housing among
others. However, the high rates of hearing loss can be reduced through effective management of
childhood infections through a thorough hearing screening and the existence of preventing
approaches. This paper aims at assessing Hearing and special senses among Aboriginals by
conducting a critical review of relevant literature. A description of the health concern is
provided, its prevalence, history concerning colonization, social determinants of health and
cultural implications in addressing the disease

Description of the health-issue
Otitis media (OM) is a range of diseases that consists of inflammation or infection in the middle
ear. This variety of illnesses includes a range from acute to chronic disorders that are clinically
diagnosed by the presence of fluid in the middle ear (Coticchia, Chen, Sachdeva, & Mutchnick,
2013). It is not clear why OM develops, but its prevalence has been attributed to multiple factors
such as bacterial infection, viruses, environmental smoke and daycare attendance among others.
Studies have found bacterial and viral microorganisms in those diagnosed with OM.
Alloiococcus otitis and S. pneumonia were detected in a study conducted by Coleman et al.
(2018) in younger children aged two years from which middle ear samples were obtained for
assessment. In another study, middle ear samples were examined and viral RNA was found using
reverse transcriptase in nineteen children and Respiratory syncytial virus RNA was the most
prevalent in 8 out of 11 cases (Hoberman et al., 2011). The major viral pathogens of OM include
respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), coronaviruses, influenza viruses, and picornaviruses.
Environmental smoke accounts for a higher incidence of OM. Studies examining middle ear
found an odds ratio for parental smoking. There was consistency in OR (1.7) for OM in mothers
who smoked over ten cigarettes each day.
Statistics of the health issue
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, 2016) survey the Aboriginal children
aged 0-14 years were three times (8.4%) more likely to be diagnosed with long-term hearing
problems than the non-Indigenous children (2.9%). Over 30% of the Aboriginal children
diagnosed with hearing difficulties had otitis media. Indigenous children aged 4-14 years