Details:

Alternative Title:
Ear Hear
Publisher's site:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000000236
Personal Author:
Wang, Xiaoxiao ; Li, Nan ; Zeng, Lin ; Tao, Liyuan ; Zhang, Hua ; ... More +
Wang, Xiaoxiao ; Li, Nan ; Zeng, Lin ; Tao, Liyuan ; Zhang, Hua ; Yang, Qiuling ; Qiu, Wei ; Zhu, Liangliang ; Zhao, Yiming Less -
Description:
Objectives

Evaluate audiometric asymmetry in Chinese industrial workers and investigate the effects of noise exposure, sex, and binaural average thresholds on audiometric asymmetry.

Design

Data collected from Chinese industrial workers during a cross-sectional study were re-analyzed. Of the 1388 workers, 266 met the inclusion criteria for this study. Each subject underwent a physical examination and an otologic examination and completed a health-related questionnaire. χ2 and t tests were used to examine the differences between the asymmetric and symmetric hearing loss groups.

Results

One hundred thirty-one (49.2%) subjects had a binaural hearing threshold difference of 15 dB or more for at least one frequency, and there was no statistically significant difference between the left and right ears. The asymmetric hearing loss group was not exposed to higher cumulative noise levels (t = 0.522, p = 0.602), and there was no dose-response relationship between asymmetry and cumulative noise levels (χ2 = 6.502, p = 0.165). Men were 1.849 times more likely to have asymmetry than women were [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.051–3.253]. Among the workers with higher high-frequency hearing thresholds (HFHTs), audiometric asymmetry was 1.024 times more prevalent than that among those with lower HFHTs (95% CI, 1.004–1.044).

Conclusions

The results indicated that occupational noise exposure contributed minimally to asymmetry, while sex and binaural average thresholds significantly affected audiometric asymmetry. There was no evidence that the left ears were worse than the right ears.


Subject:
[+]
Adult
Article
Audiometry, Pure-Tone
Auditory Threshold
Automobiles
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Hearing Loss, High-Frequency
Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced
Humans
Male
Manufacturing Industry
Middle Aged
Noise, Occupational
Occupational Diseases
Occupational Exposure
Prevalence
Young Adult

Source:
Ear Hear. 37(2):189-193.
Pubmed ID:
26502292
Pubmed Central ID:
PMC4767534
Document Type:
Journal Article
Funding:
R01 OH002317/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States ; 1-R01-OH-002317/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States
R01 OH002317/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States ; 1-R01-OH-002317/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States Less -
Place as Subject:
China
Collection(s):
CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:a2d90d71daba6cdc8f2fb82015409dd892ad9077c02b0fdb48797a3b2c325c6b
File Type:

Supporting Files

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