e. an increased sensitivity to loud sounds), distortion (i.e. pure tones are not perceived as pure), and binaural diplacusis (i.e. the pitch of a single tone is perceived differently by the two ears) are among the most often mentioned complaints. Kähäri et al. (2001a, b) already suggested that Selleckchem Erismodegib the way these hearing disorders affect musicians should be investigated

further. As these complaints influence a musician’s ability to work to full capacity, they should be acknowledged as an important part of a musicians’ audiological status and prevention program. Research questions The first question is whether musicians of symphony orchestras should be treated as a special group with regard to hearing, noise, and noise related hearing problems, and whether the instrument type is responsible for different patterns of hearing damage. Second, the pure-tone audiogram reflects only one aspect of the hearing status of this particular group. The current study aims to obtain reliable, objective data on other expressions of noise related hearing

problems: hyperacusis, diplacusis, tinnitus, and decreased performance on speech-in-noise tasks. The third important issue is the added value of OAE measurements, which are suggested to be more sensitive, more specific, and even more predictive in measuring NIHL. Therefore, we like to assess the relations between measurements of hearing acuity (i.e. PTA, OAE) and self-reports on noise-induced hearing problems. Methods Participants A total number of 245 musicians (490 ears) NSC23766 in vivo Tangeritin of five symphony orchestras participated in this study on a voluntary basis. Four of them were excluded from the analysis because the severe hearing losses reported in these ears could be Sotrastaurin molecular weight attributed to aetiologies other than NIHL. One was removed because of retrocochlear pathology, one due to Menière’s disease and two because of asymmetry, not related to noise exposure. In total 241 musicians (482 ears) were included in the analyses, 113 females and 128 males between 23 and 64 years of age. In 12 participants not all the tests were performed due to lack of time or because of technical problems in the equipment. The

instruments played by the musicians were classified into six groups: high strings (HS): violin and viola; low strings (LS): cello and double bass; wood wind (WW): oboe, clarinet, bassoon, flute; brass wind (BW): trumpet, trombone, horn; percussion (PC) and other (OT): harp, piano, conductor. The distributions of gender, age and instruments are shown in Table 1. Table 1 Distribution of gender and age per instrument category Instrument category Average age (SD) Gender Total Female Male HS 44 (10.6) 64 36 100 (41%) LS 48.3 (9.4) 16 25 41 (17%) WW 42.7 (10.6) 25 25 50 (21%) BW 43.5 (9.9) 6 29 35 (15%) PC 43.5 (8.9) 0 13 13 (5%) OT 41 (9.9) 1 1 2 (0.08%) Total 44.4 (10.2) 112 (47%) 129 (53%) 241 For most participants (i.e. 211, 87%) it was more than 8 h ago since they were exposed to music.