Hearing loss in prison inmates.

The incidence of hearing disorders in 34 State Penitentiary prison inmates all with a previous history of drug abuse were investigated. Subjects were evaluated using routine pure-tone air conduction audiometry, immittance measures, and short-latency auditory brain stem responses. Of the 34 inmates, 20 (58.8%) demonstrated normal bilateral peripheral hearing sensitivity, whereas 10 (29.4%) inmates presented with some degree of hearing impairment. In addition, the conflicting results of elevated pure-tone thresholds with normal immittance measures and normal ABR findings suggested that four (11.8%) subjects exhibited functional hearing loss. The results of this study support the reported high incidence of hearing loss in the prison population. The synergistic effects of drug abuse, noise exposure, and head trauma as possible contributing factors are discussed.