Abstract
The auditory pure-tone thresholds and a number of factors affecting hearing were studied in a sample of 767 60-year-old men and 220 50-year-old men from the general population of Gothenburg, Sweden. There was a good correlation between self-reported hearing and measured hearing acuity. The auditory function in this study was generally poorer than in other comparable studies, which probably reflects the influence of an urban industrialized environment on hearing. The hearing acuity of the right ear was generally better than that of the left. This was not entirely due to selective noise exposure but possibly partly due to a biological difference between the two ears. The two predominant factors affecting the hearing were noise exposure and otitis media sequelae, assessed as tympanic membrane pathology. Noise exposure mainly affected the high-frequency range, whereas middle ear pathology affected all frequencies and was added to noise-induced hearing loss. Men from low social classes had poorer hearing than men in higher social classes. This gradient persisted to some extent when noise exposure and tympanic membrane pathology were taken into account. About 11% of the 60-year-old men and 4% of the 50-year-old men fulfilled the criteria for hearing aid amplification, illustrating the need for such equipment in the short-term perspective, and noise protection in the long run.
