%0 Journal Article
%T Occupational Noise Exposure and Age Correction: The Problem of Selection Bias
%A Robert A. Dobie
%J International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
%D 2009
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/ijerph6123023
%X Selection bias often invalidates conclusions about populations based on clinical convenience samples. A recent paper in this journal [1] makes two surprising assertions about noise-induced permanent threshold shift (NIPTS): first, that there is more NIPTS at 2 kHz than at higher frequencies; second, that NIPTS declines with advancing age. Neither assertion can be supported with the data presented, which were obtained from a clinical sample; both are consistent with the hypothesis that people who choose to attend an audiology clinic have worse hearing, especially at 2 kHz, than people of the same age and gender who choose not to attend.
%K age correction
%K noise-induced
%K age-related
%K selection bias
%K NIPTS
%U http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/6/12/3023