THE SEX-RATIO IN CHILDHOOD DEAFNESS, AN ANALYSIS OF THE MALE PREDOMINANCE

The sex-ratio in childhood deafness is analyzed and shows an unexplain ed male predominance. A review of the literature is presented and to t his is added the sex-ratio of 3278 ex-pupils from the Dutch Institute for the Deaf in St. Michielsgestel. Also the sex-difference of 162 dea f children is presented and related to the degree of hearing loss and the etiology of their deafness. The population of these hearing impair ed and deaf people consists of an average of 54% men and 46% women. Al though hereditary etiology was spread equally over both sexes of the 1 62 pupils in the Nijmegen school, a significant difference for the aut osomal dominant forms of hearing impairment have been observed. An exp lanation for this male predominance is still lacking.