Hearing loss in the elderly: History of occupational noise exposure

INTRODUCTION  Noise exposure is one of the most common health risk factors, and workers are exposed to sound pressure levels capable of producing hearing loss. AIM  To assess the prevalence of hearing loss in the elderly and its possible association with a history of occupational noise exposure and with sex. METHODS  A prospective study in subjects aged over 60 years. The subjects underwent anamnesis and audiological assessment. The Mann-Whitney test and multiple logistic regression, with 95% confidence interval and p < 0.05, were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS  There were 498 subjects from both sexes, and the median age was 69 years. From the comparison between men and women, we obtained the medium hearing I (500, 1000, and 2000 Hz p = 0.8318) and the mean hearing II (3000, 4000, and 6000 Hz; p < 0.0001). Comparing the thresholds of individuals with and without a history of occupational noise exposure, we obtained the medium hearing I (p = 0.9542) and the mean hearing II (p = 0.0007). CONCLUSION  There was a statistically significant association between hearing loss at high frequencies and the risk factors being male and occupational noise exposure.