Age-related hearing decline in individuals with and without occupational noise exposure.

This study was conducted to compare the pattern of age-related hearing decline in individuals with and without self-reported previous occupational noise exposure. This was a prospective, population-based, longitudinal study of individuals aged 70-75 years, from an epidemiological investigation, comprising three age cohorts. In total there were 1013 subjects (432 men and 581 women). Participants were tested with pure tone audiometry, and they answered a questionnaire to provide information regarding number of years of occupational noise exposure. There were no significant differences in hearing decline, at any frequency, for those aged 70-75 years between the noise-exposed (N= 62 men, 22 women) and the nonexposed groups (N = 96 men, 158 women). This study supports the additive model of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and age-related hearing loss (ARHL). The concept of different patterns of hearing decline between persons exposed and not exposed to noise could not be verified.