Pure-tone thresholds, speech understanding, and their correlates in samples of men of different ages

Pure-tone thresholds and speech understanding were studied in three samples of men of different ages (31-35, 51-55 and 71-75 years). The air-conducted pure-tone thresholds were measured at 125-8,000 Hz and speech understanding by the help of interrupted and masked speech tests. The audiological measures were related to measures of other sensory functions, psychomotor speed, cognitive functions, psychic well-being, occupational and educational background and health. The results indicated a clear decrement in all audiological measures when proceeding from younger to older age groups. The results of the speech-understanding tests correlated significantly with the pure-tone thresholds both at 4,000 Hz and at the mean of three frequencies (500, 1,000, 2,000 Hz) in the speech area. The audiological measures were not associated with other sensory functions or psychic well-being but showed significant correlations with psychomotor speed and cognitive functions. The most important predictors of the auditory functions within the age groups were occupational status, noise exposure at work, cognitive capacity, education, and number of disease symptoms, which, in addition, correlated with each other.