Jacobson C A, Jacobson J T, Crowe T A
Department of Audiology, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Pennsylvania.
Ear Hear. 1989 Jun;10(3):178-83. doi: 10.1097/00003446-198906000-00007.
The incidence of hearing disorders in 34 State Penitentiary prison inmates all with a previous history of drug abuse were investigated. Subjects were evaluated using routine pure-tone air conduction audiometry, immittance measures, and short-latency auditory brain stem responses. Of the 34 inmates, 20 (58.8%) demonstrated normal bilateral peripheral hearing sensitivity, whereas 10 (29.4%) inmates presented with some degree of hearing impairment. In addition, the conflicting results of elevated pure-tone thresholds with normal immittance measures and normal ABR findings suggested that four (11.8%) subjects exhibited functional hearing loss. The results of this study support the reported high incidence of hearing loss in the prison population. The synergistic effects of drug abuse, noise exposure, and head trauma as possible contributing factors are discussed.
对34名均有药物滥用史的州立监狱囚犯的听力障碍发生率进行了调查。使用常规纯音气导听力测定、声导抗测量和短潜伏期听觉脑干反应对受试者进行评估。在这34名囚犯中，20名（58.8%）表现出双侧外周听力敏感度正常，而10名（29.4%）囚犯存在一定程度的听力障碍。此外，纯音阈值升高但声导抗测量正常以及听觉脑干反应结果正常的相互矛盾的结果表明，4名（11.8%）受试者存在功能性听力损失。本研究结果支持了报告中监狱人群听力损失高发的情况。讨论了药物滥用、噪声暴露和头部创伤作为可能的促成因素的协同作用。
