The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on hearing in post-menopausal women.

Background: Female hormone influences on the development and aging of the auditory system are not completely understood. The present study retrospectively analyzed and compared hearing abilities among post-menopausal women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT), treated with estrogen and progesterone (E+P); estrogen alone (E), and a third (control - NHRT) group, matched for age, who did not receive any HRT.

Methods: 126 subjects, (60-86 yr), N=32, E+P; N=31, E; N= 63, NHRT; matched for age and health status participated. All had relatively healthy medical histories, absence of significant noise exposure, middle ear problems, major surgeries or current/heavy smoking. Hearing tests included pure tone audiometry (PTA), tympanometry, distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), transient otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) and hearing-in-noise-test (HINT). The latter is a test for speech perception in background noise: the major complaint of hearing-impaired persons.

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Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy middle ears

Exclusion Criteria:

• ototoxic medications
• serious medical health problems
• neurological conditions
• Meniere's disease or labyrinthitis
• those who failed cognitive screening tests (Mini-Mental Test)
• current/heavy smokers
• conductive hearing loss
• history of noise damage and/or audiograms signifying noise damage
• poor speech discrimination scores (80% or less)