The effect of prolonged exposure to industrial noise on otosclerosis

More than 3000 workers referred by the Workmen's Compensation Board of Ontario have been evaluated for pension for industrial hearing loss. They include the normal proportion of otosclerotics, many of whom have had surgical therapy. The operations have been done by a wide variety of surgeons in the province of Ontario, and the results are representative of those which will be obtained in a large section of the Canadian community. The results are significantly worse than generally quoted, and some of the deficiencies are attributable to occupation. These include perilymph fistula from excessive straining and sensorineural hearing loss due to noise exposure. Detailed results will be presented.