The Relevance of Leisure Noise to Hearing Threshold Shifts: A Longitudinal Analysis Among Adolescents.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the association of total leisure noise exposure and hearing threshold shifts over 5 years among adolescents enrolled in the Ohrkan cohort study.

Method: The Ohrkan cohort of 2,148 students aged 13-19 years was recruited from 2009 to 2011 and followed up 5 years later. Complete baseline and follow-up reports on exposure and outcome were available for 989 participants.

Longitudinal analysis of leisure noise exposure among adolescents with special focus on portable listening devices: the OHRKAN cohort study.

The aim was to investigate leisure noise exposure and sociodemographic determinants of risky leisure noise exposure over five years in 2148 students visiting grade 9 of any school type in a German city from 2009-2011. Within the OHRKAN cohort study, leisure noise exposure was calculated from literature-retrieved sound pressure levels (SPLs) and self-reported duration of 18 leisure activities at baseline and two follow-ups. Risky exposure was defined as exceeding 85 dB(A) averaged over a 40-h-week.

Audiometric notch and extended high-frequency hearing threshold shift in relation to total leisure noise exposure: An exploratory analysis.

Background: Studies investigating leisure noise effect on extended high frequency hearing are insufficient and they have inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to investigate if extended high-frequency hearing threshold shift is related to audiometric notch, and if total leisure noise exposure is associated with extended high-frequency hearing threshold shift.

Materials And Methods: A questionnaire of the Ohrkan cohort study was used to collect information on demographics and leisure time activities.

Cancer incidence in urban, rural, and densely populated districts close to core cities in Bavaria, Germany.

Objective: An ecologic study on the level of districts was performed to evaluate the possible association between district type and risk of cancer in Bavaria, Southern Germany.

Methods: Cancer incidence data for the years 2003-2012 were obtained from the population-based cancer registry Bavaria according to sex and cancer site. Data on district type, socio-economic area deprivation, particulate matter exposure, tobacco consumption, and alcohol consumption were obtained from publicly available sources.

[Exposure of Adolescents to Leisure-Time Noise: Results of the First Follow-Up of the Ohrkan Cohort Study].

Objective: Analysis of changes in leisure noise exposure among adolescents during 2.5 years of follow-up.

Methods: The analysis is based on the Ohrkan cohort study.

Early indication of noise-induced hearing loss from PMP use in adolescents: A cross-sectional analysis.

Context: Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) may indicate preclinical noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) in adolescents from unsafe personal music player (PMP) use.

Aims: The objective, therefore, was to observe preclinical signs of NIHL in 9th grade adolescents with clinically normal hearing by comparing DPOAE signals between different levels of A-weighted equivalent PMP exposure.

Settings And Design: Subjects were recruited from all secondary-level schools located in the city of Regensburg, Germany during two academic years 2009/2010 and 2010/2011.

Usage of personal music players in adolescents and its association with noise-induced hearing loss: A cross-sectional analysis of Ohrkan cohort study data.

Objective: To describe personal music player (PMP) usage among adolescents, sociodemographic determinants and association with audiometric notches.

Design: Audiometric evaluation to assess hearing status, and standardized questionnaires to evaluate PMP listening behaviors, leisure noise exposures and self-reported hearing loss symptoms. Sociodemographic information was collected using a parent questionnaire.

Total leisure noise exposure and its association with hearing loss among adolescents.

Objective: To investigate total leisure noise exposure among adolescents and to assess its association with hearing.

Design: Based on self-reported time spent on 19 leisure activities and associated mean sound pressure levels reported in the literature, total leisure noise exposure was evaluated and compared to noise at work limits (> 85 dB(A) = hazardous) in a cross-sectional survey. Tympanometry and pure-tone audiometry was performed in sound isolated rooms.

The prevalence of audiometric notches in adolescents in Germany: The Ohrkan-study.

Although there is concern about increasing hearing loss in adolescents caused by leisure noise exposure, prevalence data are scarce. In an US study, about 16-17% of adolescents were affected by audiometric notches. To estimate the prevalence of audiometric notches in adolescents in Germany, baseline data of the cohort study Ohrkan, recruitment during the school years 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 were analyzed.

Influence of dietary factors, age and nickel contact dermatitis on nickel excretion.

Background: Nickel is a frequently detected cause of allergic contact dermatitis. Ingestion of nickel may lead to flares of nickel contact dermatitis.

Methods: We examined nickel excretion in the urine of 164 female patients with and without nickel contact dermatitis.

Effect of classroom air quality on students' concentration: results of a cluster-randomized cross-over experimental study.

Unlabelled: To assess the effect of indoor air quality as indicated by the median carbon dioxide (CO₂) level in the classroom on the concentration performance (CP) of students, a cross-over cluster-randomized experimental study was conducted in 20 classrooms with mechanical ventilation systems. Test conditions 'worse' (median CO₂ level on average 2115 ppm) and 'better' (median CO₂ level on average 1045 ppm) were established by the regulation of the mechanical ventilation system on two days in one week each in every classroom. Concentration performance was quantified in students of grade three and four by the use of the d2-test and its primary parameter 'CP' and secondary parameters 'total number of characters processed' (TN) and 'total number of errors' (TE).

[Hearing loss in adolescents due to leisure noise. The OHRKAN study].

Alarming reports have been published about hearing loss in adolescents, and increasing leisure time noise exposure has been blamed. If the exposure limits from the Noise at Work Regulations are applied, discotheque music as well as music from portable music players are associated with the risk of hearing loss. The empirical evidence for this association, however, is not sufficient.

Relationship between noise annoyance from road traffic noise and cardiovascular diseases: a meta-analysis.

Road traffic noise is an important source of noise annoyance in the community. We performed a meta-analysis to assess whether there is an association between noise annoyance from road traffic noise and cardiovascular diseases (arterial hypertension and ischemic heart disease) in adult population. The meta-analysis included studies that: a.

Prospective association of dopamine-related polymorphisms with smoking cessation in general care.

Aims: Genetic contributions to nicotine dependence have been demonstrated repeatedly, but the relevance of individual polymorphisms for smoking cessation remains controversial.

Materials & Methods: We examined genotypes at two dopamine-related loci, DRD2/ANKK1 (rs1800497) and DBH (rs77905), in 577 heavy smokers participating in a prospective study of smoking cessation in general care in Germany.

Results: Smoking status after 1 year was significantly associated with DRD2/ANKK1, odds of abstinence being 4.

Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke and child behaviour - results from a cross-sectional study among preschool children in Bavaria.

Aim: To evaluate the association of postnatal exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke on childhood behavioural problems after taking maternal smoking during pregnancy into account.

Methods: In a cross-sectional survey of preschool children in Bavaria, exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke in the child's home was assessed via a parent questionnaire. The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was applied to assess child's behaviour.

Situational temptation scores and smoking cessation in general care.

The construct of self-efficacy, which is assessed either in confidence- or temptation-related instruments, presumably predicts transitions between the transtheoretical model stages of change and ultimately smoking cessation outcome. To elucidate its predictive potential for smoking cessation in a general care setting, we examined the association of baseline scores of the situational temptations inventory with month 12 smoking status in 577 heavy smokers participating in a cluster-randomized study of physician training and financial incentives for smoking cessation in Germany. At follow-up, abstinence could be validated in 56 patients.

[Smoking bans in public places: current epidemiological evidence of cardiovascular health impacts at the population level].

During the past years smoking bans in public places including hospitality venues have been introduced in several countries. Up to now, eight ecological studies on hospital admission rates due to acute myocardial infarction or coronary events after introduction of a smoking ban in the United States, Canada, and Italy have been published. This article reviews these studies and discusses their significance and potential sources of error from an epidemiological point of view.

[Nickel levels in female dermatological patients].

Nickel levels in urine were determined among 163 female dermatological patients aged 18 to 46 years. Data on life-style factors were collected in parallel via a questionnaire. Urinary nickel excretion was in the normal range of the German female population (0.

[Reduction of exposure to particulate matter in classrooms by improved cleaning: extent of exposure and results of a pilot study in Bavaria].

The aims of the research project were (I) to describe the exposure to particulate matter in Bavarian schools and identify predictors of increased exposure and (II) to evaluate whether exposure can be reduced by improving the ventilation and/or cleaning routine. Air quality was measured in 46 schools, two classrooms each, in the City of Munich and Dachau county. Each classroom was measured on one school day in both winter 2004/2005 and summer 2005.

Cost-effective primary care-based strategies to improve smoking cessation: more value for money.

Background: Evidence from cost-effective smoking cessation programs is scarce. This study determined the cost-effectiveness of 3 smoking cessation strategies as provided by general practitioners (GPs) in Germany.

Methods: In a cluster-randomized smoking cessation trial, rates and intervention costs for 577 smoking patients of 82 GPs were followed up for 12 months.

High sound pressure levels in Bavarian discotheques remain after introduction of voluntary agreements.

While no legal rules or regulations exist in Germany, voluntary measures were introduced to achieve a reduction of sound pressure levels in discotheques to levels below 100 dB(A). To evaluate the current levels in Bavarian discotheques and to find out whether these voluntary measures ensured compliance with the recommended limits, sound pressure levels were measured in 20 Bavarian discotheques between 11 p.m.

Implications of nonresponse patterns in the analysis of smoking cessation trials.

In the statistical analysis of smoking cessation trials, participants with missing outcome data are commonly assumed to be continued smokers. Using algebraic formulas, a numerical example, and a real-life example, we evaluated the implications of nonresponse patterns on results obtained with a "missing = smoking" (MS) analysis compared with results obtained with an "available case" (AC) analysis, which excludes participants with missing outcome data. The algebraic formulas showed that MS and AC analysis provide consistent estimates of relative quit rates (RQR) when response rates in the treatment and control group are equal, regardless of the validity of the underlying assumption of both approaches.

Perfluorinated compounds--exposure assessment for the general population in Western countries.

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) can currently be detected in many environmental media and biota, as well as in humans. Because of their persistence and their potential to accumulate they are of toxicological concern. The present review presents the current knowledge of PFC monitoring data in environmental media relevant for human exposure.