Early Noise-induced Hearing Loss in Teenage Boys

Abstract

A hearing examination of 538 teenage boys in vocational school classes—implying future on-the-job noise exposure—showed a hearing loss (greater than 20 dB HL at any frequency) in 15% of the cases. Few correlations could be demonstrated between hearing loss and specific leisure time activities. There was, however, a correlation between high frequency hearing loss in the left ear and hereditary hearing loss. The most affected frequency was 6 kHz, suggesting a noise etiology—a suggestion emphasized by the noisy hobbies of these teenagers. It cannot be excluded that a hereditary deficiency could either manifest itself as a localized dip at 6 kHz or reveal itself as an increased vulnerability to noise, identified at young age as a high frequency dip at 6 kHz.