Audiological profile and characterization of the main complaints of men and women between

Abstract

The aim of this work is to describe the3 most common symptoms and complaints of elderly patients and to characterize them audiologically. Sixty eight subjects whose ages ranged from 65 to 95 years old were accessed. Twenty one (30,8%) of them were males and 47 (69,2%), females. The population was divided into four groups: Group 1 (men from 65 to 79 years of age); Group 2 (women from 65 to 79 years of age); Group 3 (men from 80 to 95 years of age); Group 4 (women from 80 to 95 years of age). Fifty subjects were assessed subjectively in order to find the most frequent symptoms and complaints of each group. Talking in noisy environments, talking from a distance, talking on the telephone and talking in groups proved to be the most frequent complaints. Sixty eight subjects were assessed audiologically. The hearing threshold level was obtained from 250 to 8000 Hz and distributed on tables based on sex and age. The statistical result based on the median calculation of the threshold level enabled us to establish the interquartile space (between Q1 and Q2) encompassing 50% of the distribution. This comparative study demonstrates statistically significant difference between the hearing threshold level of the men and of the women. The pure-tone audiometry of the men showed a more abrupt hearing loss in higher frequencies . As to age, a statistically significant difference was also obtained between the 65 – 79 and 80 – 95 age groups revealing greater hearing loss(es) in the older group.