Auditory dysfunction accompanying noise-induced hearing loss.
Two groups of 16 young male subjects with normal low- and midfrequency hearing were compared on a series of audiometric measures. One group was composed of subjects with 12- to 24-month histories of noise exposure and hearing loss at 4000 Hz greater than 40 dB; the other group was composed of normal-hearing subjects with no history of unusual noise exposure. On fixed-frequency Bekesy audiometry at 2000 Hz, 12 of the noise-exposed subjects demonstrated separation of 5 dB or more between pulsed- and continuous-tone tracings; similar separation occurred for only one of the non-noise-exposed subjects. Significant between-group differences also occurred on three tests of speech discrimination: PB-50 word lists and CID W-22 lists presented with two forms of competing noise.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013060:Speech