Hearing Thresholds of Students in the Second, Eighth, and Twelfth Grades

Abstract

Fifteen hundred students in grades 2, 8, and 12 were given puretone threshold hearing tests to determine if prevalence of hearing loss varied with age. A significantly higher prevalence of hearing loss was found in the older children. The proportion of students failing the hearing test in the 2nd and 8th grades was then compared with data collected over the last 10 years from the same school district. There was a greater prevalence of hearing loss among 2nd and 8th graders today than 10 years ago.