Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2014 Sep;57(9):1001-10.
doi: 10.1002/ajim.22323. Epub 2014 Apr 3.

Do hearing protectors protect hearing?

Matthew R Groenewold  1 , Elizabeth A Masterson, Christa L Themann, Rickie R Davis
Affiliations
Observational Study

Do hearing protectors protect hearing?

Matthew R Groenewold et al. Am J Ind Med. 2014 Sep.

Abstract

Background: We examined the association between self-reported hearing protection use at work and incidence of hearing shifts over a 5-year period.

Methods: Audiometric data from 19,911 workers were analyzed. Two hearing shift measures-OSHA standard threshold shift (OSTS) and high-frequency threshold shift (HFTS)-were used to identify incident shifts in hearing between workers' 2005 and 2009 audiograms. Adjusted odds ratios were generated using multivariable logistic regression with multi-level modeling.

Results: The odds ratio for hearing shift for workers who reported never versus always wearing hearing protection was nonsignificant for OSTS (OR 1.23, 95% CI 0.92-1.64) and marginally significant for HFTS (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.00-1.59). A significant linear trend towards increased risk of HFTS with decreased use of hearing protection was observed (P = 0.02).

Conclusion: The study raises concern about the effectiveness of hearing protection as a substitute for noise control to prevent noise-induced hearing loss in the workplace.

Keywords: hearing protection; noise; noise-induced hearing loss; occupational hearing loss.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Arezes PM, Miguel AS. Hearing protectors acceptability in noisy environments. Ann Occup Hyg. 2002;46:531–536. - PubMed
    1. Berger EH. The naked truth about noise reduction ratings. Hearing Instruments. 1994;45(2):8–11.
    1. Berger E, Kieper R. Representative 24-hour Leqs arising from a combination of occupational and non-occupational noise exposures. J Acoust Soc Am. 1994;95:2890.
    1. Daniell WE, Swan SS, McDaniel MM, Camp JE, Cohen MA, Stebbins JG. Noise exposure and hearing loss prevention programmes after 20 years of regulations in the United States. Occup Environ Med. 2006;63:343–3351. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Daniell WE, Swan SS, McDaniel MM, Stebbins JG, Seixas NS, Morgan MS. Noise exposure and hearing conservation practices in an industry with high incidence of workers’ compensation claims for hearing loss. Am J Ind Med. 2002;42:309–317. - PubMed

Publication types