Table 1
Prevalence of hearing difficulties and tinnitus in subjects with and without cold induced finger blanching
| Severe hearing difficulty | Persistent tinnitus | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Never blanched *No. (%) | Ever blanched *No. (%) | †PR (95% CI) | Never blanched *No. (%) | Ever blanched *No. (%) | †PR (95% CI) | |
| *A few respondents did not answer all of the questions so denominators for prevalences vary. | ||||||
| †Prevalence ratios were adjusted for age (35–44, 45–54, and 55–64 years) and years of occupational exposure to noise (<1, 1–5, 6–10, >10). | ||||||
| Men | ||||||
| All men | 71 (2.4) | 35 (8.0) | 2.2 (1.4 to 3.3) | 234 (7.1) | 51 (10.3) | 1.1 (0.8 to 1.5) |
| Never exposed to noise | 20 (1.4) | 5 (3.9) | 2.2 (0.8 to 5.9) | 75 (4.5) | 10 (6.8) | 1.4 (0.7 to 2.6) |
| Never exposed to HTV | 29 (1.9) | 7 (5.1) | 2.1 (0.9 to 4.7) | 107 (6.3) | 9 (6.0) | 0.8 (0.4 to 1.5) |
| Women | ||||||
| All women | 42 (1.9) | 12 (2.9) | 1.4 (0.8 to 2.7) | 92 (3.5) | 25 (5.0) | 1.4 (0.9 to 2.1) |
| Never exposed to noise | 29 (1.6) | 10 (3.1) | 1.9 (1.0 to 3.9) | 60 (2.8) | 15 (4.0) | 1.4 (0.8 to 2.4) |
| Never exposed to HTV | 33 (1.7) | 10 (3.1) | 1.8 (0.9 to 3.6) | 74 (3.3) | 12 (3.1) | 0.9 (0.5 to 1.7) |
