The Association between Impaired Fasting Glucose and Noise-induced Hearing Loss

[Objectives]: This study was performed to determine whether there is an association between impaired fasting glucose and noise-induced hearing loss. [Methods]: The study subjects were workers in one automobile manufacturing company. The data were obtained from results of health examinations during 2005 and 2009. The factors analyzed were age, smoking and alcohol history, work duration, environmental noise level, hearing thresholds, blood pressure, serum creatinine, initial hearing threshold and fasting glucose. [Results]: The hearing thresholds at 4,000 Hz frequencies for both ears were significantly higher in 2009 than those in 2005. The changes in the hearing thresholds of the subjects with an impaired fasting glucose (100-125 mg/dl) and diabetes (≧126 mg/dl) were greater than those of the normal (