TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2004//
TI  - Hearing threshold in sport divers: is diving really a hazard for inner ear function?
JO  - Archives of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery
A1  - Klingmann, Christoph
A1  - Knauth, Michael
A1  - Ries, Stefan
A1  - Tasman, Abel-Jan
SP  - 221
EP  - 225
VL  - 130
IS  - 2
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of scuba diving on the hearing threshold of sport divers who have no history of excessive noise exposure or of diving-related inner ear damage. DESIGN: Cross-sectional controlled comparison study. SETTING: General sports diving community. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty sport divers with an average of 650 dives each and at least 4 years of diving experience (mean, 10 years) were compared with a control group of 63 nondivers from our hospital staff or patients referred for rhinologic problems or benign tumors of the salivary gland. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: After microscopic otoscopy and tympanometry, we used pure-tone audiometry to measure the hearing threshold for air and bone conduction. The participants were divided into 3 age groups, and the hearing test results for both ears combined were statistically compared. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in the hearing thresholds between sport divers and nondivers. CONCLUSIONS: The reduced hearing levels of professional divers found in other studies are probably due to the high noise levels that they have to deal with or may be a result of inner ear accidents.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0886-4470
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archotol.130.2.221
ID  - ref1
ER  -