[Auditory threshold in professional divers not exposed to noise]. / Umbral auditivo en buzos profesionales no expuestos a ruido.

OBJECTIVES: Otologic and audiometric evaluation of professional divers without noise exposure has been carried out to analyze the repercussions of this activity on their hearing. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A total of 233 professional divers, working in a no noise environment, with an average experience of 9.6 years and 2074 lifetime dives, in a working depth between 10 m and 27 m, average 4.6 hours underwater time were evaluated. This atypical population of divers did not follow any decompression schedule and engaged in diving in a purely empirical and intuitive fashion. RESULTS: Eighty-nine point two per cent presented symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS). Only 19.7% presented a mean hearing threshold below 20 dB while 73.5% had a mild hearing loss. Significant differences (P < .0001) were found in hearing thresholds at 3, 4, and 6 kHz when hearing thresholds were grouped by years of experience and diver's age. No such increase was found when the sample was grouped by DCS symptoms, vestibular symptoms, number of dives, or patent foramen ovale. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss in professional divers is related to their age and experience, even without a noisy working environment.

Umbral auditivo en buzos profesionales no expuestos a ruido / Auditory threshold in professional divers not exposed to noise

Objetivos: Hemos realizado una revisión otoscópica y audiométrica de buceadores profesionales no expuestos a ruido, para evaluar la repercusión que esta actividad laboral tiene en la audición. Material y método: Se analizó a 233 buceadores profesionales, con una experiencia promedio de 9,6 años y 2.074 inmersiones, que trabajan a profundidades de entre 10 y 27 m y una media diaria de 4,6 h de fondo. Se trata de una población atípica que bucea de forma intuitiva y empírica sin realizar paradas de descompresión regladas. Resultados: El 89,2 % presentó síntomas de enfermedad por descompresión. Sólo el 19,7 % presentaba un umbral medio de audición por debajo de los 20 dB y el 73,5 % presentaba una hipoacusia leve. Se encontró un significativo incremento del umbral auditivo en 3, 4 y 6 kHz al agrupar por años de experiencia y edad (p < 0,0001). No se observó este incremento al agrupar la muestra según tuvieran foramen oval permeable (FOP), síntomas de enfermedad por descompresión ni clínica vestibular o número de inmersiones. Conclusiones: La hipoacusia neurosensorial en frecuencias agudas en buceadores profesionales está relacionada con la edad y los años de profesión, incluso en ausencia de un medio laboral ruidoso (AU)

Objectives: Otologic and audiometric evaluation of professional divers without noise exposure has been carried out to analyze the repercussions of this activity on their hearing. Material and method: A total of 233 professional divers, working in a no noise environment, with an average experience of 9.6 years and 2074 lifetime dives, in a working depth between 10 m and 27 m, average 4.6 hours underwater time were evaluated. This atypical population of divers did not follow any decompression schedule and engaged in diving in a purely empirical and intuitive fashion. Results: Eigthy-nine point two per cent presented symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS). Only 19.7 % presented a mean hearing threshold below 20 dB while 73.5 % had a mild hearing loss. Significant differences (P < .0001) were found in hearing thresholds at 3, 4, and 6 kHz when hearing thresholds were grouped by years of experience and diver's age. No such increase was found when the sample was grouped by DCS symptoms, vestibular symptoms, number of dives, or patent foramen ovale. Conclusions: The presence of high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss in professional divers is related to their age and experience, even without a noisy working environment (AU)