Abstract:
BACKGROUND : Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) are a promising screening technique for the early detection
of subtle noise-induced cochlear function changes.
OBJECTIVES : To determine the applicability of DPOAEs as a health surveillance technique for the early detection of noise-induced
hearing loss (NIHL) in workers at a steel manufacturing industry.
METHODS : DPOAE measurements were recorded in 20 participants with no history of occupational noise exposure and
20 participants exposed to noise in the steel manufacturing industry. Participants were not exposed to noise for at least
48 hours prior to testing. All participants were male, with normal audiometric thresholds of ≤15 dB HL. The DPOAE presence
and response levels for different frequencies were compared between the two groups. The study further evaluated the shortterm
test-retest repeatability of DPOAE measurements.
RESULTS : The noise-exposed group had significantly lower DPOAE response amplitudes than the control group for all the tested
frequencies: p<0.001 at 2002 to 4004 Hz; p=0.01 and p=0.001 at 6348 and 7996 Hz, respectively, suggesting early outer hair cell
damage in the noise-exposed group. DPOAEs showed good reproducibility.
CONCLUSION : DPOAEs appear to be a sensitive technique for detecting noise-induced subtle cochlear function changes.
DPOAEs could be used as a health surveillance technique in conjunction with pure tone audiometry for the early detection of
NIHL in the steel manufacturing industry.
