The Threshold of Hearing of A Random Sample Rural Population

Abstract

The threshold of hearing by earphone listening was determined on random sample rural populations of both males and females in the age group 18-24 years. A clinical audiometer equipped with earphones differing from the pattern used to establish the British Standard of the threshold of hearing was employed. After the exclusion of clinically abnormal ears, the thresholds for the two sexes were found to be in agreement, except at the mid-high audio-frequencies, where the threshold of hearing for males was significantly poorer. This impairment of the threshold for males is attributable to permanent noise-induced hearing loss, due primarily to small arms firing. The derived normal threshold of hearing for our random population is in agreement with the British Standard of the threshold of hearing by earphone listening.