Noise injury: etiology and prevention.

Exposure to noise might be responsible for a wide and varied spectrum of physical and mental morbidity, although many of the claims of cause and effect relationship are controversial and unproven. The etiological relationship between noise and high frequency hearing loss is, however, well documented. While noise-induced hearing loss is considered to be primarily an occupational problem, current leisure time activities have created the potential for it to become more common in the community at large. Once developed, this hearing loss is permanent and cannot be influenced by therapy. Noise-induced hearing loss is almost completely preventable and the family physician has an important responsibility for primary and secondary prevention, whether the noise source is in the workplace or in some other location.