AUDITORY EFFECTS OF AIRCRAFT NOISE ON PEOPLE LIVING NEAR AN AIRPORT

Two groups of randomly chosen individuals who lived in two communities located different distances from the airport were studied. We monitor ed audiometry and brainstem auditory-evoked potentials to evaluate coc hlear and retrocochlear functions in the individuals studied. The resu lts of audiometry measurements indicated that hearing ability was redu ced significantly in individuals who lived near the airport and who we re exposed frequently to aircraft noise. Values of pure-tone average, high pure-tone average, and threshold at 4 kHz were all higher in indi viduals who lived near the airport, compared with those who lived fart her away. With respect to brainstem auditory-evoked potentials, latenc ies between the two groups were not consistently different; however, t he abnormality rate of such potentials was significantly higher in vol unteers who lived near the airport, compared with less-exposed counter parts. In addition, a positive correlation was found between brainstem auditory-evoked potential latency and behavioral hearing threshold of high-frequency tone in exposed volunteers. We not only confirmed that damage to the peripheral cochlear organs occurred in individuals expo sed frequently to aircraft noise, but we demonstrated involvement of t he central auditory pathway.