Firefighters' hearing: a comparison with population databases from the International Standards Organization

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Audiology
• Environmental Health

Background:

• Firefighters are exposed to high noise levels, posing a risk to hearing.
• General population hearing data requires adjustment for occupational noise exposure.
• Understanding age-related hearing changes is crucial for assessing occupational hearing loss.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify excess hearing loss in male firefighters compared to age-expected normative data.
• To investigate hearing threshold differences at various frequencies and percentiles.
• To establish the impact of occupational noise exposure on firefighter hearing.

Main Methods:

• Comparison of hearing thresholds of five male firefighter groups with increasing mean ages.
• Utilized normative hearing data from International Standards Organization databases A and B.
• Analyzed hearing thresholds at the 50th and 90th percentiles across different frequencies (2000-6000 Hz).

Main Results:

• Firefighters showed significant excess hearing loss at 3000, 4000, and 6000 Hz (50th percentile).
• Greater excess hearing loss was observed at the 90th percentile, especially at 3000, 4000, and 6000 Hz.
• Hearing loss accelerated beyond age-expected levels, particularly in higher frequency ranges.

Conclusions:

• Firefighter occupation is associated with accelerated hearing loss exceeding age-related changes.
• Noise exposure in firefighting significantly contributes to hearing impairment.
• Hearing conservation programs are critical for protecting firefighters' auditory health.