Early noise-induced hearing loss in teenage boys

Scand Audiol. 1981;10(2):91-6. doi: 10.3109/01050398109076167.

Abstract

A hearing examination of 538 teenage boys in vocational school classes--implying future on-the-job noise exposure--showed a hearing loss (greater than 20 dB HL at any frequency) in 15% of the cases. Few correlations could be demonstrated between hearing loss and specific leisure time activities. There was, however, a correlation between high frequency hearing loss in the left ear and hereditary hearing loss. The most affected frequency was 6 kHz, suggesting a noise etiology--a suggestion emphasized by the noisy hobbies of these teenagers. It cannot be excluded that a hereditary deficiency could either manifest itself as a localized dip at 6 kHz or reveal itself as an increased vulnerability to noise, identified at young age as a high frequency dip at 6 kHz.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Audiometry, Pure-Tone
  • Hearing Loss, High-Frequency / epidemiology
  • Hearing Loss, High-Frequency / etiology
  • Hearing Loss, High-Frequency / prevention & control
  • Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / epidemiology*
  • Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / etiology
  • Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / prevention & control
  • Humans
  • Leisure Activities
  • Male
  • Sex Factors
  • Vocational Education