Self-assessed auditory symptoms, noise exposure, and measured auditory function among healthy young Swedish men

Abstract

The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of the exposure to ototraumatic factors and auditory symptoms, and to analyse the relations between these factors in a group of young healthy men. A total of 839 men, 19-22 years old, were recruited for the study when reporting for primary military service. A questionnaire was distributed and audiometry was performed. The prevalence of tinnitus, sensitivity to noise, and measured hearing impairment in the study group was 23.2%, 15.5%, and 14.5% respectively. Exposure to occupational noise often was reported by 21.4%, and playing loud music often by 16.5%. The young men who had experienced tinnitus after noise exposure had an elevated risk of high frequency hearing impairment, tinnitus, and sensitivity to noise. Those who played loud music had elevated prevalence values of tinnitus but not of hearing impairment. In this young group we observed high prevalence values of ototraumatic factors and auditory symptoms. We also observed significant correlations between tinnitus after noise exposure, self-assessed hearing symptoms, and hearing impairment.

Young workers and sustainable work life

“…Among the musicians, an association between number of hours of instrumental practice and impaired hearing was found (Hagberg et al, 2005). Occupational noise was reported by over 50% of males aged 19-22 doing their military service, and an association was found between occupational noise and hearing deterioration (Muhr and Rosenhall 2010). Conclusion: In studies based on young workers in the Nordic countries there is limited evidence suggesting an association between occupational noise and impaired hearing.…”

Results from high-frequency hearing screening in 14- to 15-year old adolescents and their relation to self-reported exposure to loud music

“…Henderson et al, 2011: 12.7%;Shargorodsky et al, 2010: 16.4%;Niskar et al, 1998: 12.7%). Only Muhr & Rosenhall (2010) found a lower fi gure (7.4%), but this is probably due to a different defi nition of the critical hearing threshold (20 dB HL instead of 15 dB HL, like the authors above). On the other hand, the relatively high fi gure reported from Shargorodsky et al (2010) may result from the inclusion of the 8-kHz frequency into the series of test frequencies.…”

“…On the other hand, some studies failed to establish an association between exposure to loud music and hearing defi cits (e.g. Carter et al, 1982;Johnson et al, 1986;Williams, 2005;Muhr & Rosenhall, 2010;Shargorodsky et al, 2010;Henderson et al, 2011). In addition, several studies revealed that the prevalence of hearing loss in young adults did not signifi cantly change over the past decades (Rabinowitz et al, 2006;Augustsson et al, 2006;Henderson et al, 2011), while at the same time their exposure to loud music increased (Smith et al, 2000;Serra et al, 2005;Henderson et al, 2011).…”

Prevalência de perda auditiva em adolescentes e adultos jovens decorrentes de exposição a ruído social: meta-análise

“…Four studies considered the mean of three frequencies (i.e. 500Hz, 1Khz and 2Khz) and established the mild hearing loss from 26dB 15,16,18,24 . The studies using the cutoff point for mild hearing loss from 26dB showed greater variability in the prevalence of hearing loss: 7.1 to 23.8%…”

“…Five papers considered high frequency tonal threshold, classifying mild hearing loss from 16dB and observed prevalence near 15% [24][25][26][27][28][29] . Four studies considered the mean of three frequencies (i.e.…”