Katherine M Renick1, J Mac Crawford, J R Wilkins. 1. The Ohio State University, College of Public Health, Office of Research, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA. krenick@cph.osu.edu
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hearing loss is prevalent among adults in the farming community, with some evidence it begins in childhood. Our objective was to compare hearing thresholds of Ohio farm youth to published data on national norms. METHODS: Baseline data were collected on youth (n = 212) in 1994-1996 with follow-up (n = 132) in 2003-2004 including pure-tone air conduction thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz. RESULTS: When compared to nationally-representative data, study youth had a higher prevalence of hearing loss. The high-frequency range was most affected, particularly at 6 kHz where nearly 50% of the farm youth exhibited some degree of hearing loss at baseline testing. The prevalence of noise-induced threshold shifts, characterized by an audiometric notch, was nearly twice that of the national sample. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that hearing loss, which is common among adult farmers, may be problematic for farm youth as well.
BACKGROUND:Hearing loss is prevalent among adults in the farming community, with some evidence it begins in childhood. Our objective was to compare hearing thresholds of Ohio farm youth to published data on national norms. METHODS: Baseline data were collected on youth (n = 212) in 1994-1996 with follow-up (n = 132) in 2003-2004 including pure-tone air conduction thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz. RESULTS: When compared to nationally-representative data, study youth had a higher prevalence of hearing loss. The high-frequency range was most affected, particularly at 6 kHz where nearly 50% of the farm youth exhibited some degree of hearing loss at baseline testing. The prevalence of noise-induced threshold shifts, characterized by an audiometric notch, was nearly twice that of the national sample. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that hearing loss, which is common among adult farmers, may be problematic for farm youth as well.
Authors: Adam P Vasconcellos; Meghann E Kyle; Sapideh Gilani; Jennifer J Shin Journal: Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg Date: 2014-03-26 Impact factor: 3.497
Authors: Arve Lie; Marit Skogstad; Håkon A Johannessen; Tore Tynes; Ingrid Sivesind Mehlum; Karl-Christian Nordby; Bo Engdahl; Kristian Tambs Journal: Int Arch Occup Environ Health Date: 2015-08-07 Impact factor: 3.015