Do blind persons have better audiometric hearing threshold values than sighted persons? A pair-matching analysis

Objective: This study aimed to report difference in audiometric hearing threshold values between blind and sighted persons.Methods: This was a comparative cross-sectional study of blind and normally sighted students hearing thresholds. Two groups were formed experimental and control groups respectively, matched for age only. Audiometric threshold hearing values were obtained using an Audiometer in accordance with the modified Hughson-Westlake technique at frequencies of 0.5 to 4 kHz. The Pure Tone Average is the average value at these frequencies for the better ear.Results: Each group had 23 participants, mean threshold values for blind group was 17.45dB (95%CI: 16.59 - 18.30dB); while for the sighted group is 17.59dB (95%CI: 15.90 - 19.28dB). Overall, tests did not reveal a statistical significance even though normal sighted students had higher threshold values.Conclusion: The study did not reveal a difference between audiometric threshold values between sighted and blind persons.Keywords: Blind, sighted, audiometric values, differenc