Description and Primary Results from an Audiometric Study of Male Twins

Abstract

These data reflect typical age-related deterioration in hearing ability accompanied by greater individual differences in hearing function with age. Across all ages, genetic and environmental effects are important sources of variation in hearing. However, preliminary analyses suggest that the relative influence of environment increases with age. These environmental effects are of the nonshared type that are not associated with shared family environments but rather are explained by unique exposures.