Clinical observation on hearing conditions of centenarians in northern district of China.
CONCLUSIONS
The hearing conditions of the centenarians were quite poor as regards hearing thresholds and speech detection ability.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate hearing conditions of centenarians.


METHODS
A total of 54 centenarians in Rizhao and Linyi Districts in Shandong Province were investigated to assess hearing conditions of centenerians comprehensively by questionnaire investigation, pure-tone audiometry, acoustic immitance, intelligence evaluation, and speech detection scores. Also, 135 individuals were recruited as controls and divided into four groups according to their age: 45-59 years, 60-69 years, 70-79 years, and 80-89 years.


RESULTS
The hearing thresholds of the centenarians were dramatically higher than those of the control group (p < 0.05) and all centenarians suffered moderate to profound hearing loss according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Few centenarians had normal level of speech detection scores. All centenarians showed descending hearing curve, and the hearing threshold of the male centenarians at 8000 Hz was higher than that of the females (p = 0.047). There was a significant air-bone conduction gap in the centenarians (p < 0.05).
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital , Beijing.
Chen-Qing
CQ
Liu
Xiao-Ting
XT
Cheng
Yu-Hua
YH
Zhu
Wei-Dong
WD
Shen
Bo-Wen
BW
Bian
Ju-Yang
JY
Cao
Suo-Qiang
SQ
Zhai
Chuan-Xin
CX
Chen
Shi-Ming
SM
Yang
Hui-Jun
HJ
Yuan
Ning
N
Yu
D000158:Acoustic Impedance Tests; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D001844:Bone Conduction; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011304:Presbycusis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012022:Reflex, Acoustic; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test
Hearing threshold; age-related hearing loss; presbycusis; speech detection scores