[Types of hearing disorders in drug addicts and individuals drinking non-consumable alcohols].

All over the world an increase in the number of subjects addicted to various chemical substances has been observed. The studies of their toxic effect on the hearing have been so far most frequently limited to acute intoxication or direct effect: there are no data concerning distant and persistent effects. The aim of the study was to determine the type of hearing loss in drug addicts and individuals drinking non-consumable alcohols, examined during the period of abstinence. A group of 210 subjects addicted to various substances was examined using acumetry test and tuning forks, as well as threshold, suprathreshold and speech audiometry. Taking into consideration the threshold results for particular subjects, the percentage of hearing loss for both ears was calculated using CPT index. Most frequent complaints connected with the organ of hearing, such as tinnitus and hearing impairment were reported by alcoholics and opioid addicts. In the age adjusted threshold audiometry, perceptive hearing loss was diagnosed in nearly 50% of the subjects. The percentage of hearing loss calculated for both ears, using CPT index, demonstrated the highest values in the group of subjects drinking non-consumable alcohols and addicted to volatile organic substances.