Is eye color a predictor of noise-induced hearing loss?

This study investigated the hypothesis that eye color is related to permanent threshold shift. Hearing levels and eye color determinations (gray, blue, hazel, and brown) were obtained for 100 industrial employees. Discriminant function analyses were utilized to attempt to establish linear combinations of variables that would identify group membership (i.e., eye color) correctly. Linear combinations of variables were not effective in delineating group membership. Probabililty statistics were then utilized to evaluate the probability of the determined relationships. These results indicated predictive accuracy of 69% for blue-eyed workers and 59% for brown-eyed workers.