visual field abnormalities in hearing loss adolescent boys

this study was intended to investigate the visual field status and its association with other visual parameters in adolescent boys and to compare these outcomes to hearing ones. in a cross-sectional study, visual fields (vf) of 64 adolescent boys with hearing impairments and 68 age-matched boys with normal hearing were evaluated among high school students of tehran, iran in 2013. they all had intelligence quotient (iq) more than 70. status of hearing loss was classified based on the severity and time of onset. participants underwent a complete eye examination. their visual fields were investigated to determine foveal threshold (ft), mean deviation (md) and status of glaucoma hemifield test (ght) by using humphrey field analyzer automated perimetry. there was no significant difference in age (p= 0.49) or iq (p= 0.13) between groups. there was no significant difference in the mean (±sd) of corrected distance visual acuity between two groups (p= 0.183). most of hearing loss boys (50%) had a deep impairment. frequency of abnormal vf based on the ght, md and ft in hearing loss versus hearing group were 31.2% vs. 8.8%, 59.4% vs. 19.1% and 40.6%vs. 22.1% respectively. the mean±sd of md and ft in hearing and hearing loss groups were -0.79±2.04 vs. -4.61±6.52 and 38.97±1.66 vs. 35.30±1.43, correspondingly. there were significant differences for md (p<0.0001) and ft (p<0.0001) base on independent sample t test between normal and hearing loss groups. fisher`s exact test showed significant difference for ght (p< 0.0001) between control and study groups. higher frequency of vf abnormalities was observed in the adolescent boys with hearing impairments. these findings emphasize the detailed assessment of visual field in these patients.