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Do hearing protectors protect hearing?
Author(s) -
Groenewold Matthew R.,
Masterson Elizabeth A.,
Themann Christa L.,
Davis Rickie R.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.22323
Subject(s) - audiogram , medicine , audiology , hearing loss , absolute threshold of hearing , odds ratio , incidence (geometry) , audiometry , noise induced hearing loss , hearing protection , odds , logistic regression , presbycusis , auditory fatigue , noise exposure , physics , optics
Background We examined the association between self‐reported hearing protection use at work and incidence of hearing shifts over a 5‐year period. Methods 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. Results 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 ( P = 0.02). Conclusion 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.