Risk Factors for Hearing Loss in Children following Bacterial Meningitis in a Tertiary Referral Hospital
Table 2
Characteristics and findings in children with meningitis included in this study ().
Variable
Overall
Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL)
(%)
Normal ()
Mild/moderate ()
Severe/profound ()
Test
Biometrics
Age in months (median, range)
14 (5–120)
15 (5–120)
10 (6–108)
14 (6–120)
*
Males
49/83 (59%)
29/47
13/22
7/14
Anthropometric
Weight, mean score (SD)ξ
−0.89 (1.96)
−0.81 (2.10)
−1.24 (1.76)
−0.60 (1.84)
*
Malnourished (Yes)
15/83 (18.1%)
9/47
4/22
2/14
Clinical variables
History
Seizures
64/82 (78.1%)
30/46
21/22
13/14
Examination
Fever (Y)
54/83 (65.1%)
32/47
17/22
5/14
Level of consciousness (GCS)
Coma score < 8
13/83 (15.7%)
1/47
9/22
3/14
Coma score > 8
70/83 (84.3%)
46/47
13/22
11/14
Cranial nerve palsy (Y)†
8/83 (9.6)
0/47
4/22
4/14
Laboratory
CSF culture
No growth
66/83 (79.5%)
46/47
13/22
7/14
Other
7/83 (8.4%)
1/47
4/22
2/14
Streptococcus pneumonia
10/83 (12.1%)
0/47
5/22
7/14
CSF biochemistry
CSF glucose
Median, range (g/dL)
29.7 (21.5–90)
31.2 (21.5–90)
27.7 (22.2–90)
27.2 (21.5–90)
*
>40 mg/dL
7/83 (8.4%)
2/47
4/22
1/14
<40 mg/dL
76/83 (91.6%)
CSF protein
Median, range
225 (11–952)
231 (123–952)
222.5 (11–952)
189.5 (128–653)
*
<100 mg/dL
0/83 (0)
0
0
0
>100 mg/dL,
83/83 (100%)
47/47
22/22
14/14
—
†All palsies involved the Abducens (Cranial nerve VI); ξbased on CDC growth charts, US version 2000; *Levene’s robust test statistic for the equality of variances between the groups. GCS: Glasgow Coma Scale.
