Noise‐induced hearing loss in children and adolescents.

Occupational noise exposure remains the most commonly identified cause of noise‐induced hearing loss (NIHL) in the general population. The issue of NIHL in children has received scant attention. Parents and public policy makers have expressed increasing concern about hearing risks to children and adolescents posed by noise sources such as: rock music, ‘‘boom’’ cars, loud toys, recreational vehicles, and personal cassette players. This report focuses on 114 children and adolescents (ages 19 and under; 90.3% males) who were diagnosed as having probable NIHL on the basis of clinical history and audiometric configuration. Forty‐two children had unilateral losses, while 72 had sensorineural losses of varying degree in the contralateral ear. The mean age of referral for evaluation was 12.7 yr (range 1.2 to 19.8 yr, s.d. 4.21 yr), although 26% of the children were age 10 or younger at the time of referral. Inherent weaknesses of currently available clinical studies of NIHL in nonoccupational settings include imp...