%0 Journal Article %T Hearing loss in the elderly: History of occupational noise exposure %A Meneses-Barriviera %A Caroline Luiz %A Melo %A Juliana Jandre %A Marchiori %A Luciana Lozza de Moraes %J International Archives of Otorhinolaryngology %D 2013 %I Scientific Electronic Library Online %R 10.7162/S1809-97772013000200010 %X introduction: noise exposure is one of the most common health risk factors, and workers are exposed to sound pressure levels capable of producing hearing loss. aim: to assess the prevalence of hearing loss in the elderly and its possible association with a history of occupational noise exposure and with sex. methods: a prospective study in subjects aged over 60 years. the subjects underwent anamnesis and audiological assessment. the mann-whitney test and multiple logistic regression, with 95% confidence interval and p < 0.05, were used for statistical analysis. results: there were 498 subjects from both sexes, and the median age was 69 years. from the comparison between men and women, we obtained the medium hearing i (500, 1000, and 2000 hz p = 0.8318) and the mean hearing ii (3000, 4000, and 6000 hz; p < 0.0001). comparing the thresholds of individuals with and without a history of occupational noise exposure, we obtained the medium hearing i (p = 0.9542) and the mean hearing ii (p = 0.0007). conclusion: there was a statistically significant association between hearing loss at high frequencies and the risk factors being male and occupational noise exposure. %K hearing loss %K noise %K aged. %U http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1809-48642013000200010&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en