Introduction: The contribution of hazardous noise-a ubiquitous exposure in workplaces-to occupational injury risk is often overlooked. In this ecological study, the fraction of US workplace acute injuries resulting in days away from work in 2019 attributable to hazardous occupational noise exposure was estimated.
Methods: Using the NoiseJEM, a job exposure matrix of occupational noise, and 2019 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data, the proportion of workers experiencing hazardous occupational noise (≥85 dBA) was estimated for every major US Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) group. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated for each major SOC group using the relative risk (RR) taken from a published 2017 meta-analysis on this relationship.
Results: About 20.3 million workers (13.8%) are exposed to hazardous levels of occupational noise. Nearly 3.4% of acute injuries resulting in days away from work in 2019 (95% CI 2.4% to 4.4%) were attributable to hazardous occupational noise, accounting for roughly 14 794 injuries (95% CI 10 367 to 18 994). The occupations with the highest and the lowest PAFs were production (11.9%) and office and administrative support (0.0%), respectively.
Discussion: Hazardous noise exposure at work is an important and modifiable factor associated with a substantial acute occupational injury burden.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2021-107906 | DOI Listing |
J Occup Med Toxicol
January 2025
School of Health Sciences, Department of Audiology, University of the Pacific, San Francisco, California, USA.
Background: Hazardous noise exposure is an important health concern in many workplaces and is one of the most common work-related injuries in the United States. Dental professionals are frequently exposed to high levels of occupational noise in their daily work environment. This noise is generated by various dental handpieces such as drills, suctions, and ultrasonic scalers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Audiol
January 2025
Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
Objective: To examine the association between individual, cumulative leisure noise exposure (CLNE), acceptable yearly exposure (AYE) and tinnitus among a nationally representative sample of Canadians.
Design: In-person household questionnaires were used to evaluate leisure noise exposure across age, sex, household income and tinnitus: ever experienced, previous year, frequent, bothersome. High (≥85 dBA, LEX), low (<85 dBA, LEX) CLNE and AYEs were defined according to occupational limits.
BMC Health Serv Res
January 2025
Center of Implementing Nursing Care Innovations Freiburg, Nursing Direction, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Background: The noise levels in intensive care units usually exceed the recommended limits in (inter)national recommendations. Such noise levels can affect both the recovery of intensive care patients and the performance of staff. The aim of this study was to reduce ward-based noise levels in three intensive care units (anesthesiological, neurological, and neonatological).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Occup Environ Hyg
January 2025
Indian Health Service, Traverse City, Michigan.
Landscapers are exposed to noise, carbon monoxide (CO), respirable dust, and respirable crystalline silica (RCS) generated from the tools they use. Although engineering controls are available to reduce these exposures, no previous study has evaluated chronic exposures to landscapers in different work settings and compared exposures from landscaping tools with and without engineering controls. This field study of workers in the landscaping services industry documented the occupational exposures of 80 participants at 11 varied worksites to noise, CO, respirable dust, and RCS using personal breathing zone sampling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Head Trauma Rehabil
December 2024
Author Affiliations: Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Dr Schneider); Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Dr Schneider); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland (Dr Kamath); Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland (Drs Reed, Sharrett, Lin, and Deal); The MIND Center, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi (Dr Mosley); National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, Maryland (Dr Gottesman); Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland (Drs Lin and Deal); and Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland (Drs Lin and Deal).
Objective: To examine associations of traumatic brain injury (TBI) with self-reported and clinical measures of hearing function.
Setting: Four US communities.
Participants: A total of 3176 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study participants who attended the sixth study visit in 2016-2017, when hearing was assessed.
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