Pearson J D, Morrell C H, Gordon-Salant S, Brant L J, Metter E J, Klein L L, Fozard J L
Longitudinal Studies Branch, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland 21224.
J Acoust Soc Am. 1995 Feb;97(2):1196-205. doi: 10.1121/1.412231.
Current studies are inconclusive regarding specific patterns of gender differences in age-associated hearing loss. This paper presents results from the largest and longest longitudinal study reported to date of changes in pure-tone hearing thresholds in men and women screened for otological disorders and noise-induced hearing loss. Since 1965, the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging has collected hearing thresholds from 500 to 8000 Hz using a pulsed-tone tracking procedure. Mixed-effects regression models were used to estimate longitudinal patterns of change in hearing thresholds in 681 men and 416 women with no evidence of otological disease, unilateral hearing loss, or noise-induced hearing loss. The results show (1) hearing sensitivity declines more than twice as fast in men as in women at most ages and frequencies, (2) longitudinal declines in hearing sensitivity are detectable at all frequencies among men by age 30, but the age of onset of decline is later in women at most frequencies and varies by frequency in women, (3) women have more sensitive hearing than men at frequencies above 1000 Hz but men have more sensitive hearing than women at lower frequencies, (4) learning effects bias cross-sectional and short-term longitudinal studies, and (5) hearing levels and longitudinal patterns of change are highly variable, even in this highly selected group. These longitudinal findings document gender differences in hearing levels and show that age-associated hearing loss occurs even in a group with relatively low-noise occupations and with no evidence of noise-induced hearing loss.
目前关于年龄相关性听力损失中性别差异的具体模式的研究尚无定论。本文介绍了迄今为止最大规模、历时最长的一项纵向研究的结果，该研究针对接受耳科疾病和噪声性听力损失筛查的男性和女性的纯音听力阈值变化展开。自1965年以来，巴尔的摩衰老纵向研究使用脉冲音跟踪程序收集了500至8000赫兹的听力阈值。混合效应回归模型用于估计681名男性和416名女性的听力阈值纵向变化模式，这些人没有耳科疾病、单侧听力损失或噪声性听力损失的迹象。结果显示：（1）在大多数年龄和频率下，男性听力敏感度下降速度比女性快两倍多；（2）男性在30岁时所有频率的听力敏感度都出现纵向下降，但女性在大多数频率下听力下降开始的年龄较晚，且因频率而异；（3）在1000赫兹以上的频率，女性听力比男性更敏感，但在较低频率，男性听力比女性更敏感；（4）学习效应会影响横断面研究和短期纵向研究；（5）即使在这个经过高度筛选的群体中，听力水平和纵向变化模式也高度可变。这些纵向研究结果记录了听力水平上的性别差异，并表明即使在从事相对低噪声职业且无噪声性听力损失证据的群体中，年龄相关性听力损失也会发生。
