Do hearing protectors protect hearing?. Issue 9 (3rd April 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Groenewold, Matthew R.; Masterson, Elizabeth A.; Themann, Christa L.; Davis, Rickie R.
• Is Part Of: American journal of industrial medicine. Volume 57:Issue 9(2014:Sep.)
• Page Start: 1001
• Page End: 1010
• Publication Date: 2014-04-03
• Subjects: Medicine, Industrial -- Periodicals; Médecine du travail -- Périodiques; 616.9803
• DOI: 10.1002/ajim.22323
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0271-3586

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="ajim22323-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>We examined the association between self‐reported hearing protection use at work and incidence of hearing shifts over a 5‐year period.</p> </sec> <sec id="ajim22323-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>Audiometric data from 19, 911 workers were analyzed. Two hearing shift measures—OSHA standard threshold shift (OSTS) and high‐frequency threshold shift (HFTS)—were used to identify incident shifts in hearing between workers' 2005 and 2009 audiograms. Adjusted odds ratios were generated using multivariable logistic regression with multi‐level modeling.</p> </sec> <sec id="ajim22323-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>The odds ratio for hearing shift for workers who reported never versus always wearing hearing protection was nonsignificant for OSTS (OR 1.23, 95% CI 0.92–1.64) and marginally significant for HFTS (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.00–1.59). A significant linear trend towards increased risk of HFTS with decreased use of hearing protection was observed (<italic>P</italic> = 0.02).</p> </sec> <sec id="ajim22323-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>The study raises concern about the effectiveness of hearing protection as a substitute for noise control to prevent noise‐induced hearing loss in the workplace. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:1001–1010, 2014. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.</p> </sec> </abstract>