The Effects of Earphone Use and Environmental Lead Exposure on Hearing Loss in the Korean Population: Data Analysis of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), 2010-2013.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Although previous studies have reported that frequent earphone use and lead exposure are risk factors for hearing loss, most of these studies were limited to small populations or animal experiments. Several studies that presented the joint effect of combined exposure of noise and heavy metal on hearing loss were also mainly conducted on occupational workers exposed to high concentration.

Objectives

We investigated both the individual and joint effects of earphone use and environmental lead exposure on hearing loss in the Korean general population.

Methods

We analyzed data from 7,596 Koreans provided by the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) during the period 2010-2013. The pure-tone average (PTA) of hearing thresholds at 2, 3,

SUBMITTER: Huh DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5193416 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature