Increased Reporting of Occupational Hearing Loss: Workers’ Compensation in Washington State, 1984–1998

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cohen M ; Daniell WE ; Franklin GM ; Fulton-Kehoe D ; Swan SS
• Description:
  Workers' compensation claims for hearing loss increased two-fold during 1984-1991 in Washington State. This population-based descriptive study examined 27,019 claims filed during 1984-1998 and accepted for hearing loss, in the workers' compensation jurisdiction that covers nearly all non-federal workers in Washington State. The number of claims increased 12-fold during 1984-1998. The annual incidence reached 2.6/1,000 workers statewide, and 70/1,000 in the most impacted industry. The increase involved all ages over 35 years, especially claimants over 65 years. Only 4% of providers accounted for 66% of claims. Most claimants (90%) received permanent partial disability compensation. In 1998, identifiable costs exceeded $57 million dollars. The striking increase in claims is probably largely due to reporting phenomena unrelated to current work circumstances. However, occupational hearing loss is probably much more common than usually recognized, and contemporary workers may still face substantial risk for hearing loss. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Demography Epidemiology Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Occupational Diseases Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Age-factors Author Keywords: Hearing Loss Demographic-characteristics Health Care Costs Hearing-loss Incidence Noise-induced Noise-induced-hearing-loss Occupational-diseases Occupational-health Occupational Diseases Risk-analysis Risk-factors Statistical-analysis Worker-health Workers Workers' Compensation

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  42
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20025946
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2002 Dec; 42(6):502-510
• Contact Point Address:
  William E. Daniell, Department of Environmental Health, University of Washington, Box 357234, Seattle, WA 98195-7234
• Email:
  bdaniell@u.washington.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Hearing Loss
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19990930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20030929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d0ee87f81a29ce021d967994c9cdbeabad87fed81a6373245a9ab8afa28f15105fedf908b323b962d61f45d9279e90e70910d4b9c1a48a9ecefb4c59f32c6e54
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/197105/cdc_197105_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 251.40 KB ]