Audiometric and epidemiological analysis of elderly in the Veneto region

Background: Presbyacusis, or age-related hearing loss, has become a problem of increasing social interest due to the rise in the mean age of the popul ation. Investigations performed to date have generally been carried out wit h the aid of self-reporting questionnaires, without the support of objectiv e findings. Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze an extensiv e series of elderly people from different areas of the Veneto region to obt ain an epidemiological descriptive analysis, as detailed as possible, of th eir presbyacusis, considering their hearing thresholds at various frequenci es, distinguishing findings according to sex and age in classes and the geo graphical area where the survey was performed. Methods: The survey was carr ied out collecting information from the audiometric reports on 13,710 subje cts of both sexes aged 60 years and over, with a proportion of males (M/F x 100) of 92.02%, referred spontaneously for hearing examination to the ENT departments of eight hospitals between 1986 and 1994. The catchment area in cludes three provincial capitals and five mainly rural municipalities. Resu lts: The results show that the hearing threshold rises progressively with a ge in both sexes. The hearing loss is milder in women than in men, especial ly at the higher frequencies. No important differences emerged among findin gs recorded in their 80s and in their 90s or among findings in the differen t geographical areas considered. Conclusions: Statistical descriptive analy sis confirms the typical trend of the audiometric curve in presbyacusis, tr acing the typical audiometric curve of old age described in the literature. The mean values of the audiometric curve reveal no significant differences between people residing in the country and people living in the cities. Co pyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.