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Abstract
A longitudinal study of hearing sensitivity and ear disease is described in a representative cross-section of the elementary public school population in Pittsburgh, Pa. Periodic hearing level determinations and otolaryngological examinations were conducted between 1957 and 1964. Medical histories were also obtained. Children were in attendance at school, without obvious illness at the time examinations were made. The purpose of the study included identification of those predictive signs and symptoms available to a school medical service which may indicate that particular children need special otological and audiological attention. A total of 5 748 children are included in the study population, Of these, 3 059 remained in the study between 2 and 6 years and form the group on which the longitudinal study was conducted.
The principal group on which data are presented are the 1 191 children who were observed for a period of at least 5 years. Children in this report are divided into otoscopically normal and otoscopically abnormal groups because it was found that abnormal otoscopic findings, particularly of the tympanic membrane, are related to variations in hearing sensitivity. No such relationships were unconvered in the nose and oral pharynx.