Noise-induced hearing loss in rural schoolchildren.
Sixty-eight schoolchildren (mean age, 15.2 years) received audiological assessments and filled out questionnaires concerning their histories of noise exposure. Eighteen percent of this population and more than one in four males (26%) were revealed to have audiograms consistent with noise-induced hearing loss. The frequent use of guns for recreational purposes over several years was characteristic of individuals with hearing loss.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012423:Rural Health; D012737:Sex Factors; D014707:Vermont