Interventions to prevent occupational noise induced hearing loss - a Cochrane Review

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dreschler WA ; Kateman E ; Mischke C ; Morata, Thais C. ; Verbeek JH
• Description:
  Objectives: Millions of workers worldwide are exposed to noise levels that increase their risk of hearing impairment. Little is known about the effectiveness of hearing loss prevention interventions. Therefore we assessed the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions for preventing occupational noise exposure or occupational hearing loss compared to no intervention or alternative interventions. Methods: We followed the methods prescribed by the Cochrane Collaboration. We searched 8 different electronic databases to 25 January 2012. We included randomised controlled trials, controlled before-after studies and interrupted time-series of non-clinical hearing loss prevention interventions among workers. Two authors independently assessed study eligibility and risk of bias and extracted data. We combined similar studies in a meta-analysis using RevMan5 and assessed statistical heterogeneity with the I2 statistic. Results: We included 25 studies. We found no controlled studies on engineering controls for noise exposure but one interrupted time-series on legislation to reduce noise exposure. Eight studies evaluated effects of personal hearing protection devices. Sixteen studies evaluated hearing loss prevention programs (HLPPs). The implementation of stricter legislation was shown to reduce noise levels in workplaces. Case studies showed that substantial reductions in noise levels can be achieved, but there are no controlled studies of the effectiveness of such measures. Better use of hearing protection devices as part of HLPPs reduces the risk of hearing loss, whereas for other program components of HLPPs we did not find such an effect. The overall quality of studies was low to very low. Conclusions: There is still a considerable risk of hearing loss in workers that are considered to be protected by hearing loss prevention programs. The effectiveness of hearing protection devices depends on training and their proper use. Better implementation and reinforcement of hearing loss prevention programs is needed. Better evaluations of technical interventions and long-term effects are needed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Hearing Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety
• Keywords:
  Hearing-conservation Hearing-disorders Hearing-impairment Hearing-loss Hearing-protection Noise-exposure Noise-induced-hearing-loss Personal-protection Personal-protective-equipment Protective-equipment Sound

  More +
• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  70
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043374
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2013 Sep; 70(Suppl 1):A88
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction ; Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 23rd Conference on Epidemiology in Occupational Health EPICOH 2013: Improving the Impact June 18-21, 2013, Utrecht, The Netherlands
• Supplement:
  1
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:19c9c0de760da642b39e1a253f4c04827c11701b1ea4ce7608dfbad2e36b95399cc94702a4f31be18033e0e3604897af82749884ed9e8d98ec0510daa9a9858a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195291/cdc_195291_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 65.06 KB ]