Do Flights Affect Hearing in Hot Air Balloon Pilots?

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to reveal occupational effects on the hearing of hot air balloon (HAB) pilots and examine the relationship between the duration of experience and these effects. Method: This study included 31 male HAB pilots and a control group of 32 male participants. Tympanometry, eustachian tube function (ETF) test, pure-tone audiometry, and transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) tests were performed. Results: Pure-tone audiometry results were significantly worse at 125, 500, and 6000 Hz in the right ear and 125, 500, 4000, and 6000 Hz in the left ear in the HAB group than the control group. Although tympanometry evaluation parameters did not differ between the HAB and control groups, ETF test was significantly worse in the HAB group than the controls bilaterally. TEOAE results were significantly worse at 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz in the right ear and 4000 Hz in the left ear in the HAB group than the controls. There was a significant positive correlation for 125, 4000, 6000, and 8000 Hz between the duration of experience and right ear hearing thresholds. For the left ear, the duration of experience showed a significant positive correlation at 3000, 4000, 6000, and 8000 Hz. When the relationship between the duration of experience and TEOAE results was evaluated, a significant negative correlation was found at 4000 Hz in the left ear. Conclusion: In HAB pilots, in whom eustachian tube dysfunction is quite common, noise and high altitude affected hearing, especially low and high frequencies, and the duration of experience was found to be associated with hearing thresholds.