Abstract
A MAJOR portion of the ability to hear high tones which is lost immediately after exposure to gunfire is said to be recovered within twenty-four to forty-eight hours. However, with repeated acoustic insult, recovery may become progressively impaired, and a significant degree of deafness may result. This study was undertaken to determine the extent of hearing loss of artillerymen and of rifle coaches. Since premilitary audiograms of these men were not available, hospital corpsmen who reported no specific history of exposure to gunfire were used as controls. METHOD A number of audiograms were obtained of 130 artillerymen, 23 rifle coaches and 38 hospital corpsmen at Camp Lejeune, N. C. Before audiometry all ears were examined otoscopically and irrigated if excessive cerumen was present. All men with evidence of any acute disease of the upper respiratory tract were excluded from this study. A questionnaire relevant to the origin of auditory disturbance
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