title: Self-reported hearing performance in workers exposed to solvents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare hearing performance relating to the peripheral and central auditory system between solvent-exposed and non-exposed workers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-eight workers exposed to a mixture of solvents and 48 non-exposed control subjects of matched age, gender and educational level were selected to participate in the study. The evaluation procedures included: pure-tone audiometry (500 - 8,000 Hz), to investigate the peripheral auditory system; the Random Gap Detection test, to assess the central auditory system; and the Amsterdam Inventory for Auditory Disability and Handicap, to investigate subjects' self-reported hearing performance in daily-life activities. A Student t test and analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were computed to determine possible significant differences between solvent-exposed and non-exposed subjects for the hearing level, Random Gap Detection test and Amsterdam Inventory for Auditory Disability and Handicap. Pearson correlations among the three measures were also calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Solvent-exposed subjects exhibited significantly poorer hearing thresholds for the right ear than non-exposed subjects. Also, solvent-exposed subjects exhibited poorer results for the Random Gap Detection test and self-reported poorer listening performance than non-exposed subjects. Results of the Amsterdam Inventory for Auditory Disability and Handicap were significantly correlated with the binaural average of subject pure-tone thresholds and Random Gap Detection test performance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Solvent exposure is associated with poorer hearing performance in daily life activities that relate to the function of the peripheral and central auditory system.
authors.affiliation: School of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile. afuente@med.uchile.cl
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fuente
authors.forename: Bradley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McPherson
authors.forename: Ximena
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hormazabal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry; D001307:Auditory Perception; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012997:Solvents / Q000633:toxicity*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D012997:Solvents