Citation

Agrawal Y. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2010; 127(3): 1745.

Affiliation

Dept. of Otolaryngol.-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins Univ., 601 N. Caroline St., Baltimore, MD 21287.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, American Institute of Physics)

DOI

10.1121/1.3383526

PMID

20330025

Abstract

Noise exposure is a significant risk factor for hearing loss; recent analyses from a national sample of US adults have shown that occupational and firearm noise exposure increase the risk of hearing loss by 60% and 90%, respectively. Noise trauma typically produces a high-frequency pattern of hearing loss due to hair cell injury in the cochlear base, in contrast to cardiovascular risk factors which appear to cause cochlear damage across the frequency range. Significant interactions between noise exposure and cardiovascular risks have been demonstrated, such that these exposures exert a multiplicative detrimental effect on hearing thresholds. Although exposure to industrial occupational noise may be decreasing in the US population, the rising use of personal listening devices-particularly among children and young adults-is raising concern for a surge in hearing loss prevalence in the younger population. Indeed, recent data from the US population suggest that during the 1999-2004 time interval, significant increases in the prevalence of hearing loss were observed only among young adults. Further longitudinal analyses of children and young adults will be required to better characterize the hearing risks associated with these new forms of noise exposure.

Language: en