Joint evaluation method and aviation medical identification method of subjective and objective auditory function of fighter pilots

HUANG Fengyue; ZHANG Mengdie; ZHAI Lihong; WANG Meng; DANG Ziyi; JIN Zhanguo

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2097-1753.2023.06.005

Abstract：Objective To explore the correlation between the mean hearing threshold of pure tone threshold average on one hand and the corresponding frequency speech recognition threshold,click evoked auditory brainstem response,and 40 Hz auditory event related potential(40 Hz AERP)threshold of fighter pilots on the other hand,and study medical identification methods.Methods A total of 373 fighter pilots(746 ears)were selected as subjects.All the pilots were tested for pure tone hearing thresholds at the frequencies of 0.5,1,2,3,4,6 kHz and 8 kHz.Among these pilots,84 were merely tested for pure tone hearing thresholds,while the rest were randomly divided into three groups for subjective and objective tests:SRT test group(96 cases),Click-ABR test group(98 cases)and 40 Hz AERP test group(95 cases).The test results were recorded and compared with PTA at the corresponding frequencies.Results In the pure-tone hearing threshold measurement group,PTA1(0.5-3 kHz)was(13.33±0.13)dBHL in the left ear and(12.62±0.13)dBHL in the right ear.In the SRT test group,the PTA2(0.5-2 kHz)of the left ear was(12.61±0.36)dBHL,theSRTwas(17.55±0.38)dBHL,and the PTA2 of the right ear was(12.37±0.31)dBHL and SRT were(17.04±0.52)dBHL,the correlation between SRT and PTA2 was positively correlated(r=0.237,0.209,P=0.020,0.041),and the difference between SRT and PTA2 was(4.94±0.44)dBHL in the left ear,(4.67±0.47)dBHL in the right ear.In Click-ABR test group,PTA3(2-4 kHz))in the left ear was(17.31±0.17)dBHL,the threshold was(24.69±0.12)dBHL,PTA3 in the right ear was(16.33±0.12)dBHL,the threshold was(24.59±0.14)dBHL,the correlation between the threshold value and PTA3 was positively correlated(r=0.355,0.375,P both＜0.001),the difference between the threshold and PTA3 was(7.45±0.17)dBHL in the left ear and(8.26±0.15)dBHL in the right ear;In the 40 Hz AERP test group,the thresholds of both ears were(25.95±0.20)dBHL,while PTA4(0.5-4 kHz)was(13.62±0.08)dBHL,and PTA4 in the right ear was(13.07±0.12)dBHL.There was positively correlated between the thresholds and PTA4(r=0.439,0.272,P＜0.001,=0.008),and the difference between them was(12.33±0.18)dBHL in the left ear and(12.88±0.21)dBHL in the right ear.Conclusion In this study,the reference range of subjective and objective joint hearing screening and identification of fighter pilots has been established,and the correlations between pure tone hearing thresholds and other subjective and objective hearing function screening techniques have been studied,which provides evaluation methods and medical identification principles for fighter pilots'hearing function.