Identifying hearing loss by means of iridology

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dc.contributor.author Stearn, Natalie Anne
dc.contributor.author Swanepoel, De Wet
dc.date.accessioned 2008-06-11T05:26:12Z
dc.date.available 2008-06-11T05:26:12Z
dc.date.issued 2007
dc.description.abstract Isolated reports of hearing loss presenting as markings on the iris exist, but to date the effectiveness of iridology to identify hearing loss has not been investigated. This study therefore aimed to determine the efficacy of iridological analysis in the identification of moderate to profound sensorineural hearing loss in adolescents. A controlled trial was conducted with an iridologist, blind to the actual hearing status of participants, analyzing the irises of participants with and without hearing loss. Fifty hearing impaired and fifty normal hearing subjects, between the ages of 15 and 19 years, controlled for gender, participated in the study. An experienced iridologist analyzed the randomised set of participants’ irises. A 70% correct identification of hearing status was obtained by iridological analyses with a false negative rate of 41% compared to a 19% false positive rate. The respective sensitivity and specificity rates therefore came to 59% and 81%. Iridological analysis of hearing status indicated a statistically significant relationship to actual hearing status (P < 0.05). Although statistically significant sensitivity and specificity rates for identifying hearing loss by iridology were not comparable to those of traditional audiological screening procedures. en
dc.format.extent 73270 bytes
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.identifier.citation Stearn, N & Swanepoel, D 2007, 'Identifying hearing loss by means of iridology', African Journal of Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicines, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 205-210. [http://www.africanethnomedicines.net/ojs2/index.php/ajtcam/index] en
dc.identifier.issn 0189-6016
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/5878
dc.language.iso en en
dc.publisher African Networks on Ethnomedicines en
dc.rights African Networks on Ethnomedicines en
dc.subject Hearing loss en
dc.subject Screening en
dc.subject.lcsh Audiology en
dc.subject.lcsh Deafness en
dc.subject.lcsh Iridology en
dc.subject.lcsh Teenagers with disabilities en
dc.title Identifying hearing loss by means of iridology en
dc.type Article en


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