Hearing threshold in sport divers: is diving really a hazard for inner ear function?

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.