Hearing loss in the elderly: History of occupational noise exposure

Abstract

Summary Introduction: Noise exposure is one of the most common health risk factors, and workers are exposed to sound pressure levels capable of producing hearing loss. Aim: To assess the prevalence of hearing loss in the elderly and its possible association with a history of occupational noise exposure and with sex. Methods: A prospective study in subjects aged over 60 years. The subjects underwent anamnesis and audiological assessment. The Mann–Whitney test and multiple logistic regression, with 95% confidence interval and p < 0.05, were used for statistical analysis. Results: There were 498 subjects from both sexes, and the median age was 69 years. From the comparison between men and women, we obtained the medium hearing I (500, 1000, and 2000 Hz p = 0.8318) and the mean hearing II (3000, 4000, and 6000 Hz; p < 0.0001). Comparing the thresholds of individuals with and without a history of occupational noise exposure, we obtained the medium hearing I (p = 0.9542) and the mean hearing II (p = 0.0007). Conclusion: There was a statistically significant association between hearing loss at high frequencies and the risk factors being male and occupational noise exposure.

Occupational noise and age: A longitudinal study of hearing sensitivity as a function of noise exposure and age in South African gold mine workers

“…The mean age for the first test was higher in the NEG (43.3 years) as opposed to the NNEG (36.6 years), which may act as a moderating factor in the sense that the older the participant, because of the effect of ageing on the ear, the higher their initial hearing thresholds will be. This finding can also be compared to findings that suggest pathological changes from early noise exposure to substantially increase the risk of inner ear ageing and related hearing loss in later years (Campo et al, 2011;Gates et al, 2000;Kujawa & Liberman, 2006;Meneses-Barriviera, Melo, De Moraes, & Marchiori, 2013). Although we cannot accurately identify the specific mechanism for the accelerated increase in hearing thresholds seen in this analysis, it seems possible that the noise-damaged ear does not age at the same rate as an ear without known noise damage; this again points to a possible super additive interaction between NIHL and ARHL.…”

Quality of life of Elderly People with Hearing Impairment

“…Regarding self-reported hearing impairment grades by HHIE-S, the present study indicated that the majority(85.2%) of elderly had significant hearing impairment (severe and profound) this result supported by Mattosand Veras(2010) (44) who carried out a study in Brazil and found that significant hearing loss was found in 82.4%. Moreover in study conducted by Barriviera et al (2013) (45) in Northern Parana; their finding indicated that 91.56% of subjects had significant hearing loss.…”

Noise and its influence on human health

“…Osobe starijeg životnog doba smatraju se posebno vulnerabilnom grupom na koju izloženost buci nepovoljno utiče. U gerijatrijskoj populaciji buka prvenstveno utiče na gubitak sluha, što se češće uočava kod muškaraca (36). Takođe, sve je uočljiviji uticaj buke na kognitivni status osoba starijeg životnog doba, posebno usled hronične izloženosti buci, uz pojavu osećaja neprijatnosti i gubitak sluha.…”