Hearing loss in the elderly: History of occupational noise exposure

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.