Does tinnitus, hearing asymmetry, or hearing loss predispose to occupational injury risk

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cantley LF ; Cullen MR ; Dixon-Ernst C ; Galusha D ; Neitzel RL ; Rabinowitz PM ; Slade MD ; Tessier-Sherman B
• Description:
  Objective: To determine the relative contributions of tinnitus, asymmetrical hearing loss, low frequency hearing loss (pure tone average of 0.5, 1, 2, 3 kHz; PTA .5123 ), or high frequency hearing loss (pure tone average of 4, 6 kHz; PTA 46), to acute injury risk among a cohort of production and maintenance workers at six aluminum manufacturing plants, adjusting for ambient noise exposure and other recognized predictors of injury risk. Design: Retrospective analysis. Study sample: The study considered 9920 workers employed during 2003 to 2008. The cohort consisted of 8818 workers (89%) whose complete records were available. Results: Adjusting for noise exposure and other recognized injury predictors, a 25% increased acute injury risk was observed among workers with a history of tinnitus in conjunction with high-frequency hearing loss (PTA 46). Low frequency hearing loss may be associated with minor, yet less serious, injury risk. We did not fi nd evidence that asymmetry contributes to injury risk. Conclusion: These results provide evidence that tinnitus, combined with high-frequency hearing loss, may pose an important safety threat to workers, especially those who work in high-noise exposed environments. These at risk workers may require careful examination of their communication and hearing protection needs. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Demography Epidemiology Hearing Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Men Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Safety Women

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Tinnitus Demographic-characteristics Hearing-acuity Hearing-disorders Hearing-impairment Hearing-loss Hearing Asymmetry Hearing Loss Humans Noise-exposure Noise-frequencies Noise-induced-hearing-loss Workplace Health And Safety

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• ISSN:
  1499-2027
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Connecticut ; Michigan ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Pennsylvania ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  51
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045595
• Citation:
  Int J Audiol 2015 Feb; 54(S1):S30-S36
• Contact Point Address:
  Linda F. Cantley, Yale University School of Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program, 135 College Street, Suite 366, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
• Email:
  linda.cantley@yale.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20130901
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Audiology
• Supplement:
  S1
• End Date:
  20170430
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d27a30cbfd394ab399d22d76ed18a8f0f45b86b4b191a85954da2fb79e6b66fd81ce4e7587d977fc56c5ce65672717ec5f0f077b277b523519ecc69c815ac4f7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/200956/cdc_200956_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 777.38 KB ]