Assessment of hearing threshold levels in clinically normal individuals and estimate the risk of age factor among them.

Dr. Rajesh Kumar A; Dr. Niharika B; Dr. Naveed Ahamed

Volume : VIII, Issue : XI, November - 2019

Assessment of hearing threshold levels in clinically normal individuals and estimate the risk of age factor among them.

Dr. Rajesh Kumar A, Dr. Niharika B, Dr. Naveed Ahamed

Abstract :

Background: In the current study we estimated the he� threshold in different age groups and compared the he� threshold in older adults with younger adults. Aims & objectives: 1.To identify the mean he� threshold in different age groups & create baseline data of the he� 2.To study the affect of age and gender on he� threshold in adults. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study, simple random sampling method, sample size of 100 belonging to age group of 15-69 yrs, with normal tympanic memane and no H/o of noise exposure. These subjects were motivated to undergo pure tone audiometry to analyze their he� threshold levels. Data thus collected has been analyzed using tables and graphs, mean he� threshold levels have been calculated. Results: As the age increased the he� threshold increased for all frequencies. He� thresholds of 4 KHz, 8 KHz showered a statistical significance between both genders for people older than 30 yrs, with the 4 KHz frequency showing the largest difference. Conclusion: It is very common among general population for he� to get worse as they get older. This usually affects their ability to understand and they can hear low frequencies better than high frequencies, hence people with age related he� loss find it difficult to follow conversations in noisy environment. Recommendations: After 40 years of age onwards, every individual must go for regular audiometric evaluation annually. In regular health check-up policies, pure tone audiometry must be included along with other routine investigations.