Longitudinal threshold changes in older men with audiometric notches

George A. Gates, Peter Schmid, Sharon G. Kujawa, Byung Ho Nam, Ralph D'Agostino

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

164 Scopus citations

Abstract

Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is a multifactorial process that results chiefly from the accumulating effects of noise damage and aging on the cochlea. Noise damage is typically evidenced clinically by a discrete elevation (notch) of the auditory thresholds in the 3-6 kHz region of the audiogram whereas aging affects the highest frequencies first. To determine whether the presence of such high-frequency notches influences auditory aging, we examined the 15 year change in audiometric thresholds in 203 men from the Framingham Heart Study cohort. The mean age at the first hearing test was 64 years (range 58-80). Occupational and recreational noise exposure over the 15 years was assumed to be minimal due to the age of the subjects. The presence or absence of a notch was determined using a piecewise linear/parabolic curve fitting strategy. A discrete elevation of the pure-tone thresholds of 15-34 dB in the 3-6 kHz region was deemed a small notch (N1), and elevations of 35 dB or greater were deemed large notches (N2). Absence of a notch (N0) was encoded those ears with
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)220-228
Number of pages9
JournalHearing Research
Volume141
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2000
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Generated from Scopus record by KAUST IRTS on 2022-09-13

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Sensory Systems

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