• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
• /
• v.26 no.1E
• /
• pp.8-13
• /
• 2007

It has long been known that high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss (HFHL) can contribute to difficulty in speech understanding by elderly listeners. This study evaluated the relative contribution of HFHL and age to speech understanding. Subjects included adult middle-aged and old groups with normal hearing or with limited HFHL. The Hearing-in-Noise-Test (HINT) was used to measure speech perception performance in quiet and in noise. The middle-aged groups showed significant effects of HFHL for speech intelligibility in quiet and in noise, but the old groups showed the difference in quiet only due to high frequency hearing. The results suggest that HFHL may affect speech intelligibility differently with age and therefore hearing aid selection needs to take into account the influence of age.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.26-36
• /
• 2024

Functional brain imaging techniques have been used to diagnose psychiatric disorders such as dementia, depression, and autism. Recently, these techniques have also been actively used to study hearing loss. The present study reviewed the application of the functional brain imaging techniques in auditory research, especially those focusing on hearing loss, over the past decade. EEG, fMRI, fNIRS, MEG, and PET have been utilized in auditory research, and the number of research studies using these techniques has been increasing. In particular, fMRI and EEG were the most frequently used technique in auditory research. EEG studies mostly used event-related designs to analyze the direct relationship between stimulus and the related response, and in fMRI studies, resting-state functional connectivity and block designs were utilized to analyze alterations in brain functionality in hearing-related areas. In terms of age, while studies involving children mainly focused on congenital and pre- and post-lingual hearing loss to analyze developmental characteristics with and without hearing loss, those involving adults focused on age-related hearing loss to investigate changes in the characteristics of the brain based on the presence of hearing loss and the use of a hearing device. Overall, ranging from EEG to PET, various functional brain imaging techniques have been used in auditory research, but it is difficult to perform a comprehensive analysis due to the lack of consistency in experimental designs, analysis methods, and participant characteristics. Thus, it is necessary to develop standardized research protocols to obtain high-quality clinical and research evidence.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.94-101
• /
• 2010

This study was performed to examine the asymmetry of hearing loss among the noise exposed male workers. Findings of otoscopic examination, pure tone audiometry and tympanometry were evaluated for 179 male workers working in the noise exposed workplace. And also selfadministered structured questionnaires were used for each worker's work-related and general characteristics including personal health behaviors. There were significant differences of hearing threshold between right and left ears at 1,000 Hz and 3,000 Hz(p<0.05). And also significant differences of hearing threshold were noted in the age group over 50 at 3,000 Hz, the high risk drinking group either at 3,000 Hz and 4,000 Hz, the work duration group 10-19 years at 3,000 Hz, the noise exposure group under 90 dB(A) at 3,000 Hz, the noise exposure group over 90 dB(A) at 1,000 Hz, the non-wearing protective device group at 4,000 Hz, and the wearing protective device group at 3,000 Hz(p<0.05). Further study is needed to explore the extent and the related factors of the asymmetry of hearing loss in the general population and occupationally noise exposed group.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.20 no.2 s.22
• /
• pp.205-214
• /
• 1987

For the purpose of evaluating the effect of noise induced hearing loss on the blood pressure, a cross-sectional study was conducted in 481 manufacturing industrial workers in Pusan area consisted of 275 workers from noisier plant (over 90 dB(A), high exposed group) and 206 workers from less noisy plant (below 85 dB(A), low exposed group) from April to Decepmber in 1985. The summarized results were as follows; 1) The degree of hearing loss according to the audible frequency was most notable in 4,000 Hz. 2) The prevalence of hypertension was 14.8% in total examined subjects. And also in 40 dB(A) hearing lost workers, there was no significant difference between high exposed group as 15.5% and low exposed group as 15.8%. 3) In 3 models analyzed by multiple regression technique to obtain the complexed extents of risk factors related to the diastolic blood pressure, especially model III which contain age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol and family history of hypertension, duration of work, noise exposure level and degree of hearing loss in high exposed group was most remarkable compared to the others. 4) The most potential predictor related to the diastolic pressure in high exposed group was the degree of hearing loss. And the next were body mass index, familial history of hypertension and age in order. But in the case of low exposed group, the potential predictors were body mass index, age and familial history of hypertension.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.26 no.12
• /
• pp.131-137
• /
• 2009

Recent technological advances made a vehicle more intelligent to increase safety and comfort. An intelligent vehicle provides drivers with safety warning information through audible sounds, visual displays, and tactile devices. However, elderly drivers have been known to decrease the physical and cognitive abilities such as muscular strength, hearing, eyesight, short term memory, and spatial perception. Therefore, possible age-related deficits should be considered to design an effective warning system. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of advancing age on response performance on audible safety warnings which are widely used for alerting driving hazards. In order to understand the effect of age-related hearing loss and movement slowing, three sound characteristics (frequency, intensity, and period) and three age groups (younger, middle, and older) are considered. Data was drawn from 38 drivers who drove a simulated rural road in a driving simulator. Experimental results show that age influences driver's response performance. In conclusion, the appropriate range of a warning sound is suggested.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.189-198
• /
• 2021

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the occupational performance of Korean workers with and without hearing loss and analyze the hearing-related difficulties in the working environment. Subjects and Methods: The Amsterdam checklist for hearing and work was used for the analyses and the occupational environments of the Korean workers were investigated. Out of 129 total participants, 86 workers experienced severe to profound hearing loss and 43 had the normal hearing ability. The hearing-impaired workers were recruited from two leading vocational centers and normal-hearing workers were their colleagues. Results: The hearing-impaired workers were found to take fewer sick leaves and exhibited higher rates of permanent job statuses compared to the normal-hearing workers. Workers with hearing loss rarely detected background sound; however, they could perceive reverberation more frequently. They felt more satisfied with their careers than the normal hearing workers as they received social support and needed to put their effort into hearing for most hearing activities. Furthermore, the effort in hearing increased with the increase in job demand, job control, social support, and career satisfaction. The working hours per week increased with the increase in age, education level, job demand, job control, and social support. Different trends were observed in 9 out of 12 variables while comparing the data from the present study with that obtained from the hearing-impaired workers of the Netherlands, indicating a large difference between countries. Conclusions: Although the hearing-impaired Korean workers operate diligently with good job positions, it is necessary to enhance their acoustic environment and provide them social support. Considering the cultural background of the hearing-impaired workers, the development of suitable vocational rehabilitation programs and specific questionnaires is strongly recommended worldwide.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.189-199
• /
• 2021

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the occupational performance of Korean workers with and without hearing loss and analyze the hearing-related difficulties in the working environment. Subjects and Methods: The Amsterdam checklist for hearing and work was used for the analyses and the occupational environments of the Korean workers were investigated. Out of 129 total participants, 86 workers experienced severe to profound hearing loss and 43 had the normal hearing ability. The hearing-impaired workers were recruited from two leading vocational centers and normal-hearing workers were their colleagues. Results: The hearing-impaired workers were found to take fewer sick leaves and exhibited higher rates of permanent job statuses compared to the normal-hearing workers. Workers with hearing loss rarely detected background sound; however, they could perceive reverberation more frequently. They felt more satisfied with their careers than the normal hearing workers as they received social support and needed to put their effort into hearing for most hearing activities. Furthermore, the effort in hearing increased with the increase in job demand, job control, social support, and career satisfaction. The working hours per week increased with the increase in age, education level, job demand, job control, and social support. Different trends were observed in 9 out of 12 variables while comparing the data from the present study with that obtained from the hearing-impaired workers of the Netherlands, indicating a large difference between countries. Conclusions: Although the hearing-impaired Korean workers operate diligently with good job positions, it is necessary to enhance their acoustic environment and provide them social support. Considering the cultural background of the hearing-impaired workers, the development of suitable vocational rehabilitation programs and specific questionnaires is strongly recommended worldwide.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.17-29
• /
• 1999

Objectives. This study was carried out to analyze the hearingthreshold levels and relating factors of 1,048 workers with noiseinduced hearing loss$(D_1)$. Methods. We analyzed the hearing-threshold levels and relating factors of 1,048 workers with noise-induced hearing loss$(D_1)$ examined by the summary reports of specific health examination results of industries and personal reports of specific health examination results reported by 58 specific health examination institutes and 8 secondary pneumoconiosis examination institutes in 1996. Results. Among 1,048 workers at 510 workplaces, male workers were 1,009 (96.3%) and female workers were 39 (3.7%). The mean ages of workers initially exposed to noise and at present were 28.7 and 47.2, respectively. The duration of total exposure was 16.5 years. Average hearing-threshold levels analyzed by three-divided classification of the study subjects were 43.7dB(Lt) and 42.6dB(Rt). Those analyzed by six-divided classification were 50.5dB(Lt) and 48.6d8(Rt). Among workers with noise-induced shearing loss$(D_1)$, 16.3% was unilateral hearing loss and 84.6% was classified to compensation case. 8.8%(Rt) and 10.2%(Lt) of them were suspected to be conductive hearing loss by differences of air-bone hearing-threshold levels. Hearing-threshold levels of workers in manufacturing industry were significantly increased during the short exposure compared with the levels in mining industry. Among manufacturing industries, hearing-threshold levels of workers in trailer and other transportation equipment manufacturing industry were significantly increased. Age and duration of total noise exposure were not significantly related to the average hearing-threshold levels analyzed by three-divided classification. Hearing-threshold levels of female workers were significantly increased during the short exposure compared with those of male workers. Hearing-threshold levels of workers at the high risk group, ages of 20s, 30s and total exposure duration of less than 10 years, were not significantly increased compared with those of the other groups. However, they were exposed at young ages. The 3 leading industries of workers at high risk group were trailer and other transportation equipment manufacturing, automobile manufacturing and assemble-metal manufacturing industries. Conclusions. This study was the first nationwide analysis of the hearing-threshold levels and relating factors of workers with noise. induced hearing loss$(D_1)$. We found the differences of the real number by the statistics of the department of labour and the expected number of worker' s compensations for occupationally-induced hearing loss estimated by this study. According to the results of this study, we should carefully examine the methods to narrow this difference.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.138-144
• /
• 2017

In this paper, we propose a high frequency boosting circuits compensating for age-related hearing loss. The frequency response of this hearing loss is quite similar to that of a low-pass filter of which the critical frequency get lower with age. Therefore the voltage gain of this compensation circuits increase proportionally to the frequency of signals when the frequency is higher than the critical frequency and the voltage is constant irrespective of the frequency of signals when the frequency is lower than the critical frequency. The proposed circuits consist of a differential circuit and a unity gain amplifier. Because the critical frequency of the proposed circuits is controlled simply in the shape of a volume control lever, the aged people can adjust the high frequency boosting level easily according to one's hearing loss level. The critical frequency is continuously controllable in the whole audible frequency band and the gain of this high frequency boosting circuits is above 80dB at 10kHz.

• PNF and Movement
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.51-58
• /
• 2010

Presbycusis or related-age hearing loss is approximately 30 percent for people aged over 65 years. The purpose of this study was to compare the relationship between the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly and the Berg Balance Scale for predicting and screening risk of falls in people over 65 years with diagnosed presbycusis. Thirty-five subjects all lived at the nursing home in Wonju. Disability caused presbycusis was measured using the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly, and static and dynamic balance was measured using Berg Balance Scale. Data were analyzed using Spearman correlation. Statistically significant differences were noted between two clinical meausres (r=.862, p<0.001). In conclusion, the results suggest that presbycusis may be able to predict dangerous falls in older persons.