• Olusola Ayodele Sogebi, Taiwo Olugbemiga Adedeji, Olatundun Ogunbanwo, and Emmanuel Abayomi Oyewole.
• Department of Surgery, OACHS, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Sagamu, Nigeria.
• Afr Health Sci. 2017 Dec 1; 17 (4): 1229-1236.

BackgroundLittle is known about functioning of the middle ear with advancing age.ObjectivesTo estimate the prevalence and describe tympanometric patterns of sub-clinical middle ear malfunctions,( S-MEM) in elderly patients. It also assessed clinical factors that could predict S-MEM.MethodsCross-sectional, analytical study of patients aged ≥ 60 years in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria between 2011-2014. Pure tone audiometry (PTA), tympanometry and acoustic reflexes were recorded. S-MEM was based on audiometric and tympanometric evident abnormalities. Descriptive, univariate and multivariate analyses performed to detect independent clinical predictors of S-MEM at p-value of <0.05.Results121 patients , M: F of 1.1:1. Mean age was 70.1 ± 6.2 years, 77.7% were married. Prevalence of S-MEM was 21.5%. Abnormal tympanometric tracings were type AS>C>B>AD. The parameters that were statistically-significant on univariate analyses were subjected to logistic regression analysis which confirmed previous head injury, diabetes, osteoarthritis of knee joint, and absent acoustic reflex as clinical predictors for S-MEM.Conclusion21.5% of elderly Africans had subclinical abnormalities in their middle ear functioning, mostly with type AS tympanogram. Independent clinical predictors of S-MEM included previous head injury, diabetes, history of osteoarthritis of knee joints, and absent acoustic reflex.

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