Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Feb 26, 2022; 10(6): 1815-1825
Published online Feb 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i6.1815
Early detection of noise-induced hearing loss
Zhao-Li Meng, Fei Chen, Fei Zhao, Hai-Ling Gu, Yun Zheng
Zhao-Li Meng, Fei Chen, Yun Zheng, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Fei Zhao, Cardiff School of Health Science, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff CF3 0UJ, United Kingdom
Fei Zhao, Department of Hearing and Speech Science, Xinhua College, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510000, Guangdong Province, China
Hai-Ling Gu, Department of Hearing, Speech and Language Rehabilitation, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Meng ZL and Zheng Y guarantied the study; Meng ZL designed the study, interpretated the data, and drafted the initial manuscript; Gu HL performed the study and analyzed the data; Chen F and Zhao F revised the article critically for intellectual content.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the West China Hospital, Sichuan University Institutional Review Board.
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Fei Chen, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No. 37 Guoxue Lane, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. hxchenfei@163.com
Received: May 27, 2021
Peer-review started: May 27, 2021
First decision: October 18, 2021
Revised: October 28, 2021
Accepted: January 19, 2022
Article in press: January 19, 2022
Published online: February 26, 2022
Processing time: 272 Days and 2.8 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

Research background

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the second most common acquired hearing loss following presbycusis. A marked incidence was observed in the young population (12-35 years old) as a result of recreational noise exposure. Noise has several effects on human health, including concentration disturbance, memory loss, anxiety, depressive behavior, muscular contraction, tachycardia, and hypertension.

Research motivation

NIHL is irreversible and progressive while exposure to noise continues. Consequently, identifying minor pathologies of hearing before they progress to hearing problems that affect daily life is crucial for preventing the deterioration of hearing by changing the lifestyle, i.e., reducing noise exposure. The authors motivated to find an indicator that can predict the minor pathologies of hearing in sub-clinical disease, so that further hearing loss can be prevented.

Research objectives

To compare the advantages and disadvantages of extended high frequency (EHF) and otoacoustic emission and determine an indicator of hearing pathologies at the early sub-clinical stage.

Research methods

This cross-sectional study was implemented at West China Hospital of Sichuan University from May-September 2019. A total of 86 participants, aged 18-22 years, were recruited to establish normative thresholds for EHF. Another 159 adults, aged 18-25 years with normal hearing (0.25-8 kHz ≤ 25 dBHL), were allocated to low noise and noise exposure groups. Distortion otoacoustic emission (DPOAE), transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE), and EHF were assessed in the two groups to determine the superior technique for detecting early-stage noise-induced pathologies. The chi-square test was used to assess the noise and low noise exposure groups with respect to extended high-frequency audiometry (EHFA), DPOAE, and TEOAE. P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Research results

A total of 86 participants (66 females and 20 males) aged between 18 and 22 (average: 20.58 ± 1.13) years were recruited to establish normative thresholds for EHF. The normative thresholds for 9, 10, 11.2, 12.5, 14, 16, 18, and 20 kHz were 15, 10, 20, 15, 15, 20, 28, and 0 dBHL, respectively. A total of 201 participants were recruited and examined for eligibility. Among them, 159 adults aged between 18 and 25 years were eligible in this study. No statistical difference was detected between the noise exposure and the low noise exposure groups using EHFA, DPOAE, and TEOAE (P > 0.05) except in the right ear at 4 kHz using TEOAE (abnormal rate 20.4% vs 5.2%, respectively; P = 0.05).

Research conclusions

These results showed TEOAE as the earliest indicator of minor pathology compared to DPOAE and EHFA. However, multicenter, controlled, prospective studies are essential to verify these results.

Research perspectives

Since this was a cross-sectional study and the sample size was small, the results need to be interpreted cautiously. Further follow-up of the noise exposure group with TEOAE, DPOAE, and EHFA is still needed. Multicenter, controlled, prospective studies are essential to substantiate the current findings.