Peculiarities of hearing impairment depending on interaction with acoustic stimuli

AIMS: The functional state of the auditory analyzer of several operators groups was study. The objective of this study was to determine some characteristics of hearing impairment in relation with features of acoustic stimuli and informative significance of noise. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 236 employees (middle age 35.4 ± 0.74 years) were divided into four groups according to features of noise perception at the workplaces. The levels of permanent shifts of acoustic thresholds were estimated using audiometric method. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Common statistical methods were used in research. Mean quantity and mean absolute errors were calculated. Statistical significance between operators' groups was calculated with 0.05 confidential intervals. RESULTS: The peculiarities of hearing impairment in observed groups were different. Operators differentiating acoustic signals had peak of hearing impairment in the field of language frequencies, while the employees who work with noise background at the workplaces had maximal hearing threshold on the 4000 Hz frequency (P ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Hearing impairment depends both on energy and human interaction with acoustic irritant. The distinctions in hearing impairment may be related with the necessity of recognizing of acoustic signals and their frequency characteristics.