Asymmetric Hearing Loss in Chinese Workers Exposed to Complex Noise. 2016

Xiaoxiao Wang, and Nan Li, and Lin Zeng, and Liyuan Tao, and Hua Zhang, and Qiuling Yang, and Wei Qiu, and Liangliang Zhu, and Yiming Zhao
1Research Center of Clinical Epidemiology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China; 2Dongfeng Institution of Occupational Disease Prevention, Shiyan, China; and 3Auditory Research Laboratory, State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, New York, USA.

OBJECTIVE Evaluate the audiometric asymmetry in Chinese industrial workers and investigate the effects of noise exposure, sex, and binaural average thresholds on audiometric asymmetry. METHODS Data collected from Chinese industrial workers during a cross-sectional study were reanalyzed. Of the 1388 workers, 266 met the inclusion criteria for this study. Each subject underwent a physical examination and an otologic examination and completed a health-related questionnaire. χ and t tests were used to examine the differences between the asymmetric and symmetric hearing loss groups. RESULTS One hundred thirty-one subjects (49.2%) had a binaural hearing threshold difference of 15 dB or more for at least one frequency, and there was no statistically significant difference between the left and right ears. The asymmetric hearing loss group was not exposed to higher cumulative noise levels (t = 0.522, p = 0.602), and there was no dose-response relation between asymmetry and cumulative noise levels (χ = 6.502, p = 0.165). Men were 1.849 times more likely to have asymmetry than women were (95% confidence interval, 1.051 to 3.253). Among the workers with higher high-frequency hearing thresholds, audiometric asymmetry was 1.024 times more prevalent than that among those with lower high-frequency hearing thresholds (95% confidence interval, 1.004 to 1.044). CONCLUSIONS The results indicated that occupational noise exposure contributed minimally to asymmetry, whereas sex and binaural average thresholds significantly affected audiometric asymmetry. There was no evidence that the left ears were worse than the right ears.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D009623 Noise, Occupational Noise present in occupational, industrial, and factory situations. Occupational Noise,Noises, Occupational,Occupational Noises
D009784 Occupational Diseases Diseases caused by factors involved in one's employment. Diseases, Occupational,Occupational Illnesses,Disease, Occupational,Illnesse, Occupational,Illnesses, Occupational,Occupational Disease,Occupational Illnesse
D002681 China A country spanning from central Asia to the Pacific Ocean. Inner Mongolia,Manchuria,People's Republic of China,Sinkiang,Mainland China
D003430 Cross-Sectional Studies Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time. Disease Frequency Surveys,Prevalence Studies,Analysis, Cross-Sectional,Cross Sectional Analysis,Cross-Sectional Survey,Surveys, Disease Frequency,Analyses, Cross Sectional,Analyses, Cross-Sectional,Analysis, Cross Sectional,Cross Sectional Analyses,Cross Sectional Studies,Cross Sectional Survey,Cross-Sectional Analyses,Cross-Sectional Analysis,Cross-Sectional Study,Cross-Sectional Surveys,Disease Frequency Survey,Prevalence Study,Studies, Cross-Sectional,Studies, Prevalence,Study, Cross-Sectional,Study, Prevalence,Survey, Cross-Sectional,Survey, Disease Frequency,Surveys, Cross-Sectional
D005260 Female Females
D006316 Hearing Loss, High-Frequency Hearing loss in frequencies above 1000 hertz. Hearing Loss, High Frequency,High-Frequency Hearing Loss
D006317 Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Hearing loss due to exposure to explosive loud noise or chronic exposure to sound level greater than 85 dB. The hearing loss is often in the frequency range 4000-6000 hertz. Acoustic Trauma,Hearing Loss, Noise Induced,Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man

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