title: Audiometric records analysis in a clinical population in China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to characterize the typical hearing loss presenting at a clinical audiology center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Audiometric records for 8,032 cases were obtained from the database at Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University. Based on this information, age distribution, audiometric configuration, type, degree and asymmetry of hearing loss were characterized.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results showed that 48.4% of all cases of hearing loss occurred from 31 to 60 years of age, sloping hearing loss was the most common audiometric configuration, and sensorineural hearing loss dominated the type of hearing loss for both males and females. Mean pure-tone hearing thresholds revealed significant differences between genders, that is, thresholds for females were poorer than those for males from 250 to 1,000 Hz, whereas thresholds for males were poorer than those for females from 2,000 to 8,000 Hz. Analysis showed that 57.3% of audiograms showed some degree of asymmetry. No significant difference was found between genders for the average asymmetric thresholds.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides the characteristics of age distribution, audiometric configuration, type, degree and asymmetry of hearing loss from a representative clinical audiology center. These data are useful for public policy efforts involving hearing loss prevention and rehabilitative program development.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Otolaryngology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Haihong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ruth A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bentler
authors.forename: Lingyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.forename: Demin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Luo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001299:Audiometry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution