The Noise Exposure Structured Interview (NESI): An Instrument for the Comprehensive Estimation of Lifetime Noise Exposure

Abstract

Lifetime noise exposure is generally quantified by self-report. The accuracy of retrospective self-report is limited by respondent recall but is also bound to be influenced by reporting procedures. Such procedures are of variable quality in current measures of lifetime noise exposure, and off-the-shelf instruments are not readily available. The Noise Exposure Structured Interview (NESI) represents an attempt to draw together some of the stronger elements of existing procedures and to provide solutions to their outstanding limitations. Reporting is not restricted to prespecified exposure activities and instead encompasses all activities that the respondent has experienced as noisy (defined based on sound level estimated from vocal effort). Changing exposure habits over time are reported by dividing the lifespan into discrete periods in which exposure habits were approximately stable, with life milestones used to aid recall. Exposure duration, sound level, and use of hearing protection are reported for each life period separately. Simple-to-follow methods are provided for the estimation of free-field sound level, the sound level emitted by personal listening devices, and the attenuation provided by hearing protective equipment. An energy-based means of combining the resulting data is supplied, along with a primarily energy-based method for incorporating firearm-noise exposure. Finally, the NESI acknowledges the need of some users to tailor the procedures; this flexibility is afforded, and reasonable modifications are described. Competency needs of new users are addressed through detailed interview instructions (including troubleshooting tips) and a demonstration video. Limited evaluation data are available, and future efforts at evaluation are proposed.

Keywords: noise-induced hearing loss; occupational noise; public health; risk; self-report.

Figure 1.

Performance of existing self-report measures of noise exposure.

Figure 2.

Noise exposure data from a cohort of 62 preliminary NESI respondents, obtained using a beta version of the NESI (Dewey et al., 2018). Nineteen were classed as music-industry workers, the remaining 43 were not. Music-industry workers encompassed professionals, teachers, trainees, and experienced amateurs in the following: musical performance, sound engineering, music production engineering, and disk jockeying. Density plots illustrate the distributions of (a) recreational noise exposure, (b) occupational noise exposure, and (c) total lifetime noise exposure. Note that, to allow plotting on a logarithmic scale, NESI scores of 0 have been adjusted to 0.001.