A Retrospective Clinical Audit of Audiological Care at Bahrain Defence Hospital, Kingdom of Bahrain

Background

The National Health Service (NHS) provides free care for the citizens of Bahrain. It does not have an ear nose and throat (ENT) provision, with many people using secondary care centres. The Bahrain Defence Forces (BDF) Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in Bahrain that serves a range of patients with diverse patient medical needs. This study looked to determine the quality of the audiology provision at the BDF hospital in Bahrain as well as information on audiological issues.

Method

Data on different types of hearing loss, age and secondary conditions were recorded. The study design was in the format of a retrospective clinical audit of the medical records of a random number of patients visiting audiology in the ENT Centre at the BDF Hospital throughout July 2018. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive analyses were performed. Significance was defined as a P value of less than 0.05. Data for audit were compared to a similar audit completed in an ENT clinic in Scotland, UK.

Results

Of the two hundred and forty-seven patients surveyed, a hundred and fifty-nine (56%) were male. A total of thirty-seven patients with an average age of thirty-eight were recorded as exhibiting conductive hearing loss (CHL). Seventeen patients with an average age of fifty-six were recorded with mixed hearing loss (MHL).

Conclusion

The high sensorineural deafness prevalence in this study coincides with other studies linked to a high rate of consanguineous marriage in the region. The high rate of hearing loss with vestibular disease is linked to the sharing of similar structures such as hair cells and ion channel changes. Hence both would have similar aetiologies. This study shows that the provision of known evidence-based interventions to improve hearing loss outcomes has been fully acknowledged in this ENT clinic in Bahrain. Quality criteria such as cochlea implants provision is on an equal footing to that of NHS centre in Scotland.