Prospective evaluation of associations between hearing sensitivity and selected cardiovascular risk factors.

The prospective decline of hearing sensitivity was evaluated in an occupational cohort of university blue collar workers in relation to age, gender, occupational and nonoccupational noise exposure, smoking, blood pressure, and cholesterol. Each of these were associated with loss of hearing sensitivity univariately. When controlling for age and historical noise exposure in a multiple regression model, systolic blood pressure and cholesterol level were independently associated with decline in auditory sensitivity.