HEARING-LOSS IN GRAND-PRIX MOTORCYCLISTS - OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD OR SPORTS INJURY

The prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) in current motorcy cle grand prix racers was investigated. A total of 44 riders was rando mly recruited and underwent interview, otological examination and pure tone audiometry. The median age was 28 (range 18-37) years and median racing experience was 10 (range 2-21) years. Twenty riders (45%) had hearing losses greater than expected for age matched controls. Not sur prisingly this hearing deficit tended to increase with racing experien ce (r = 0.5, t = 2.51, 19 d.f., P < 0.05). Only 17 riders (39%) were r egular users of earplugs and only nine had used them for most of their racing careers. There is a need to raise awareness to this problem an d increase the use of earplugs to avoid NIHL in grand prix motorcyclis ts.