Kim H, et al. - In this retrospective cohort study, researchers measured the changes in hearing thresholds in the same individuals during a period of 10 years and sought to suggest a clinical reference for the threshold changes by aging. Regular health checkup data including 2 pure tone audiometry results with a 10-year interval in the same individuals from 1288 subjects were used. Factors affecting age-related hearing loss (ARHL) included age, male gender, smoking, and osteoporosis. According to age groups and genders, the sole effect of aging on ARHL for 10 years was as follows: a loss of 1.4 dB in 20s, 4.0 dB in 30s, 5.0 dB in 40s, 8.2 dB in 50s, and 11.2 dB in 60s of males compared to a loss of 2.3 dB in 20s, 2.9 dB in 30s, 5.1 dB in 40s, 6.5 dB in 50s, and 9.4 dB in 60s of females. These findings suggest that males display a higher decrease in hearing ability than females. However, it seems to decrease exponentially with age in both males and females.