| Popis: |
The long-term effect of maternal HIV and antiretroviral medication on the hearing of HIV-exposed infants has not been well studied. We determined and compared the hearing thresholds of HIV-exposed infants with that of HIV-unexposed infants within the first month of life and at three, six and nine months of life.This was a Case control study of 126 HIV-exposed newborns and 121 HIV-unexposed newborns. Data collected included Socio-demographic, clinical characteristics and risk factors for hearing loss. Hearing was evaluated at newborn, 3, 6, and 9 months of life. Within and between groups analyses were done with appropriate statistics. Level of significance was P0.05.In both ears, the mean hearing thresholds of HIV-exposed infants were greater than those of the HIV-unexposed infants at baseline, 3, 6 and 9 months (P0.05). In both groups, there was a decline in the mean hearing thresholds from baseline (new born) till 6 months of age. The highest mean threshold was recorded at 9 months. The mean hearing thresholds of infants at 3, 6, and 9 months were lower for HIV-exposed infants and higher for HIV-unexposed infants than the corresponding mean hearing thresholds measured at baseline. There was a significant strong correlation among hearing thresholds at 3, 6 and 9 months but weakly correlated with hearing thresholds at baseline.There was a tendency towards higher hearing thresholds in HIV-exposed infants than the HIV-unexposed infants throughout the infancy period. This appears to have association with in-utero exposure to HIV. |
