Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between several risk factors and the development of age-associated hearing loss in the speech frequencies. Hearing loss is defined as an average threshold level of 30 dB HL or greater at the frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 kHz. Hearing thresholds from 0.5 to 8 kHz using a pulse-tone tracking procedure were collected on participants of the Baltimore Longitudinal study of Aging since 1965. A proportional hazards regression model was used to study the relationship between several risk factors that have previously been found to be associated with numerous health-related outcomes and the length of follow-up time until the occurrence of unilateral or bilateral hearing loss in a screened group of 531 men. Risk factors considered are age, blood pressure, and alcohol and cigarette consumption. After controlling for age, only systolic blood pressure showed a significant relationship with hearing loss in the speech frequencies (p < .05). Since blood pressure is a modifiable risk factor, these results suggest that preventing hypertension might contribute to an effective program for the prevention of apparent age-associated hearing loss.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 152-160 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of the American Academy of Audiology |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| State | Published - Jun 1996 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Speech and Hearing