title: Epidemiology of hearing problems among adults in Italy.
abstract: Estimates for the prevalence of self-reported hearing disability and measured hearing impairment as a function of age in the adult population of Italy are reported. The study was conducted in Bari, Florence, Milan, Padua, Palermo with questionnaire and audiological assessment; neither stage showed any gross bias arising from the particular cities chosen. The results have demonstrated that: 22% of subjects think their hearing abnormal, 24.4% report some difficulty understanding speech, 14.5% experienced prolonged spontaneous tinnitus and 17% have a > or = 25 dB HL bilateral hearing impairment; hearing problems increase progressively with age and show no significant differences between men and women; the occupational groups most at risk as far as hearing impairments are concerned are manual workers and workers exposed to occupational noise; the systemic disorders most significantly connected to hearing problems are dyslipidosis, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, liver diseases and cervical arthrosis; among every day habits, the consumption of alcohol seems the only element of risk, above all for tinnitus.
authors.affiliation: Audiology and Otology Center, ENT Department, University of Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quaranta
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Assennato
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sallustio
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001299:Audiometry; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014505:Urban Population