Indoor Hockey Officials’ Noise Exposure, Temporary Hearing Loss, and Effect of Helmet Visor Length on Exposure to Whistle Noise

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adams KL
• Description:
  Noise is one of the most common occupational hazards and noise exposure in non-occupational environments is a growing concern. Generally, sporting events are a source of non-occupational noise for spectators and employees, in which minimal research has been conducted or published. In particular, hockey officials' noise exposures during competitions have not thus far been studied. More than 23,000 hockey officials are registered with USA Hockey, the governing body of amateur hockey in the United States. Many officials are not registered, constructing a population of more than tens of thousands of hockey officials that may be at high risk of hearing loss. In addition, many officials begin officiating competitions as early as ten years of age, placing them at risk of an earlier onset of symptoms of hearing loss. The hockey officials of the Western States Hockey League (WSHL) officiate indoor competitions for elite amateur players ranging in age from 16 to 20 in fan-driven markets providing development opportunities for players, coaches and officials. Similarly, the officials in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) preside over indoor collegiate competitions for college hockey programs that do not desire to compete within the National Collegiate Athletic Association structure. Noise exposure and hearing thresholds of indoor hockey officials of the WSHL and ACHA were measured to assess the impact of noise during hockey games on hearing sensitivity. The research was conducted in northern Colorado during a pilot study in the 2013-2014 hockey season and a main study in southeastern Wyoming during the 2014-2105 hockey season. The pilot and main studies included noise dosimetry and pre- and post-game pure-tone audiometric testing of participants who officiated junior and/or collegiate level hockey competitions. Personal noise dosimetry was conducted to determine if officials were exposed to hazardous levels of noise averaged over the duration of the game, which would result in an equivalent sound pressure level (Leq) = 85 dBA. Hearing thresholds were measured with pure-tone audiometry before and after participants officiated hockey games to determine if a 10 dB or greater temporary threshold shift in hearing occurred during the competition. Audiometric testing was conducted in both ears at 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 6000 and 8000 Hz. The pilot study population included 23 hockey officials who officiated collegiate and junior league hockey competitions in two arenas in northern Colorado. All of the participants were exposed to an Leq = 85 dBA over an average hockey game time of two hours and 42 minutes. The mean Leq and mean peak sound pressure level (Lpeak) were 90 dBA (SD=2.13) and 133 dB (SD=5.49), respectively. None of the officials were overexposed to noise based on the OSHA noise criteria, yet 65 % were overexposed to noise based on ACGIH recommendations. The audiometry portion of the pilot study included 18 hockey officials who officiated at one indoor hockey arena in northern Colorado. Ten of eighteen (56%) sampled officials demonstrated a = 10 dB increase in hearing threshold after officiating a competition. Temporary threshold shifts were identified in more than one ear and/or frequency in seven of the ten (70%) participants. Two of the ten (20%) participants who experienced a threshold shift exhibited an increase in hearing threshold of 15 dB or greater. The results of the pilot study suggested that hockey officials were exposed to hazardous levels of noise and may be at an increased risk for hearing loss, thus warranting further research. The main study included similar methodology to that of the pilot study. The study population included 29 hockey officials who officiated Tier II Junior A hockey competitions in an arena in southeastern Wyoming. All of the participants in the main study were exposed to an Leq = 85 dBA over an average hockey game time of two hours and 48 minutes. The average Leq, maximum sound pressure level (Lmax), and Lpeak were 93 dBA (SD= 2.2), 116 dBA (SD=2.8) and 134 dB (SD=5.0), respectively. Hearing threshold shifts of 10 dB or greater were observed in 86.2% (25/29) of officials, with 36% (9/25) of those individuals exhibiting threshold shifts of 15 dB or greater. The largest proportion of hearing threshold shifts occurred at 4000 Hz, including 35.7% (10/28) of right ear shifts and 31.8% (7/22) of left ear shifts. The exhibited threshold shifts between the pre- and post-game audiometry were statistically significant in the left ear at 500 (p=.019), 2000 (p=.0009), 3000 (p<.0001), and 4000 Hz (p=.0002) and in the right ear at 2000 (p=.0001), 3000 (p=.0001), and 4000 Hz (p<.0001), based on Wilcoxon-ranked sum analysis. Although not statistically significant (p>0.05), with each increase of one dB of equivalent sound pressure measured from personal noise dosimetry, the odds of a = 10 dB TTS were increased in the left ear at 500 (OR=1.33, 95% CI 0.73-2.45), 3000 (OR=1.02, 95% CI 0.68-1.51), 4000 (OR=1.26, 95% CI 0.93-1.71) and 8000 Hz (OR=1.22, 95% CI 0.76-1.94) and in the right ear at 6000 (OR=1.03, 95% CI 0.14-7.84) and 8000 Hz (OR=1.29, 95% CI 0.12-13.83). The findings in the main study supported those of the pilot study that indicated indoor hockey officials were exposed to hazardous levels of noise and exhibited temporary hearing loss after officiating games. More information is required on the noise exposure of indoor hockey officials. However, based on the current study results, it is recommended that the hockey officials be enrolled in a hearing conservation program including annual audiometric exams and the use of hearing protection. Further temporary threshold shift research has the potential to identify officials of other sporting events that experience temporary threshold shifts and may be at an increased risk of noise-induced hearing loss. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is intended to protect the body from injury or illness. Indoor hockey officials wear specialized equipment including a league-approved helmet with half-face visor of varying lengths for head, face, and eye protection. During competitions, officials signal penalties and infractions using a mouth-blown whistle. The effect of the helmet visor length on the level of whistle-generated noise to which hockey officials are exposed was evaluated in an effort to determine if the visors introduced a reflective plane for the whistle noise, resulting in increased noise exposure. A Knowles Electronic Manikin for Acoustic Research (KEMAR) head and torso assembly with a left ear microphone, in conjunction with the Larson Davis 824 Sound Level Meter (SLM)/Octave Band Analyzer (OBA), was used to measure the peak sound pressure levels from the noise generated from simulated whistle blowing. The KEMAR was equipped with a Bauer 4500 hockey helmet and three different helmet/visor configurations for the study: no visor, a 2.75" long visor, and a 4.0" long visor (as measured at the middle of the visor). A Fox 40(TM) Super Force(TM) finger grip pea whistle was mounted adjacent to the left side of the manikin's mouth in an orientation similar to that of officials observed in the pilot and main studies. Whistle noise was generated with a short blast of air from a portable air compressor to produce approximately 115 dB of whistle noise. The generated whistle noise was measured in an empty indoor ice hockey arena in northern Colorado. The KEMAR assembly was positioned on the ice to replicate the positions of the hockey official's head and torso in five face-off spots located in the rink. The face-off spots included the two spots in the end zone, two at the end of the neutral zone, and one in the center of the rink. Short bursts of whistle noise were generated and measured in the left ear of the KEMAR five times in each of the five locations, with a total of 25 samples for each of the three different helmet/visor configurations. Peak noise levels measured in the manikin ear were significantly different between the helmet/visor configuration equipped with the long (4.0") visor and the other two configurations. The difference between the mean L peak between the long and no visor, long and short visor, and short and no visor helmet configurations were 3.96 dBA (p<.0001, 95% CI 3.52-4.40), 3.64 dBA (p<.0001, 95% CI 3.20-4.08), and 0.32 dBA (p=0.1558, 95% CI -0.76-0.12), respectively. These results indicate that officials wearing helmets equipped with longer visors are likely experiencing greater exposure to sound pressure levels of noise from their mouth-blown whistles. The longer helmet visors offer more face and eye protection but may also act as a reflective plane for whistle noise and increase hockey officials' noise exposure from their mouth-blown whistles. A finding that longer visors may increase the officials' noise exposure from whistle noise may perhaps provide insight for better design of helmet visors in the future. Ultimately, the results of this study provide important preliminary data supporting further research into the noise exposure and temporary hearing loss of officials at sporting events, as part of the implementation of a comprehensive hearing conservation program to reduce the risk of NIHL. In addition, further research is warranted to investigate the contribution of the visor length to the hockey officials' exposure to mouth-blown whistle noise. The results of this study support that the hearing health and safety impacts of the visor length should be considered in the assessment and design of helmet visors in the future. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Athletes Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety
• Keywords:
  Hearing Loss Noise Exposure Noise Levels Personal Protective Equipment PPE Sports Injuries
• ISBN:
  9781369459753
• Publisher:
  ProQuest LLC.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Dissertation
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20056237
• Citation:
  Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest LLC., 2016 Oct; :10196229
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  University of Colorado, Denver
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20070701
• Source Full Name:
  Indoor hockey officials' noise exposure, temporary hearing loss, and effect of helmet visor length on exposure to whistle noise
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0739d91550711e5edde7c4053ebf0e6875adc7309cb93fcd782ee31d30ec162b597981693488ab73da16cd41a78cf10201b40f79dafe44219fc0b421cf11a383
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/213883/cdc_213883_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.84 MB ]