RESUMO
Objective: Detect the hearing deficiencies of the candidates of the gendarmerie's competition. Material and method: Prospective study realized over 3 years (2008-2010), in the ENT service of the Gendarmerie to Agban (Abidjan). Examination included an otoscopy and a pure tone audiometry. Results: On 23121 candidates, 1245 had a plug of earwax (5.4%). They were aged from 18 to 25 years old (average age: 22.85 years). Eardrum was pathological in 0.5 % of the cases. Prevalence of hearing loss was 1.5%. Hearing loss included sensorineural hearing loss (56.7%), deafness of transmission (29.4%) and mixed deafness (13.9%). Deafness was unilateral in 79.8% and bilateral in 20.2%. Conclusion: Result of audiogram will be useful for tracking or assessing cases of noise-induced hearing loss attributable to military service.
