Prevalence of Hearing Loss Among Noise-Exposed US Workers Within the Utilities Sector, 2010–2019

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Occup Environ Med
• Personal Author:
  Masterson, Elizabeth A. ; Themann, Christa L.
• Description:
  Objective:
  
  This study’s objective was to estimate hearing loss prevalence for noise-exposed US Utilities workers.
  
  Methods:
  
  In this cross-sectional study of a retrospective cohort, audiograms were examined for 1.3 million workers (13,595 within utilities) from 2010–2019. Hearing loss prevalence and adjusted risk as compared with a reference industry were estimated.
  
  Results:
  
  The hearing loss prevalence for noise-exposed Utilities workers (25%) was higher than for noise-exposed workers in all industries combined (20%). Some subsectors surpassed the prevalence for all industries combined and/or had adjusted risks significantly higher than the reference industry. The highest prevalence subsectors were Hydroelectric Power Generation (37%) and steam and Air-Conditioning Supply (29%).
  
  Conclusions:
  
  While often overlooked, noise-exposed workers in this sector have among the highest prevalences of hearing loss and significantly higher risks. Increased attention and better hearing conservation strategies are needed.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Cross-Sectional Studies Female Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Humans Industry Male Middle Aged Noise, Occupational Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Prevalence Retrospective Studies United States

  More +
• Keywords:
  Electric Power Generation Hazardous Noise Hydroelectric Power Generation Natural Gas Distribution Occupational Hearing Loss Power Distribution Surveillance
• Source:
  J Occup Environ Med. 66(8):648-653
• Pubmed ID:
  38664951
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11683764
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  66
• Issue:
  8
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:06a42c8990c82f3c4aa022f3834b18ffbee5724ff56ae5a3debbf48b9aec40be313a10b0a90ff635dd3efda3e8d3e3be8d20f0d4df501efaf536285203c3c85a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/175266/cdc_175266_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 357.65 KB ]