Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026
Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
Perceived and measured hearing ability in construction laborers and farmers
Madeleine J Kerr1, Marjorie McCullagh, Kay Savik
1School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
Background:
Construction and farming are characterized by small independently operated enterprises; few are included in hearing loss prevention programs. This study describes perceived and measured hearing ability among construction laborers and farmers in order to further the Healthy People 2010 goal to reduce noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).
Methods:
Construction laborers (n = 147) and farmers (n = 150) had screening audiograms at their workplace and a farm show, respectively. The relationship of the audiograms with a one-item measure of perceived hearing ability was explored using non-parametric statistics.
Results:
At the 4,000 Hz frequency, indicative of NIHL, a high percentage of both groups exhibited hearing loss greater than 25 dB: laborers 53%, farmers 67%. Perceived hearing ability was significantly worse (P < 0.05) for workers with a measured hearing loss. The sensitivities of perceived hearing loss compared to audiometry ranged from 0.30 to 0.72 suggesting that perceived hearing loss was not a good indicator of actual hearing loss in this sample.
Conclusions:
The poor relationship between perceived and actual hearing loss in this study suggests that best practice requires inclusion of audiometric screening as part of a complete hearing loss prevention program. Future development of an improved instrument to measure perceived hearing ability may be useful in assessing this dimension of hearing.
More Related Videos
06:27Simple Surgical Induction of Conductive Hearing Loss with Verification Using Otoscope Visualization and Behavioral Clap Startle Response in Rat
Published on: October 26, 2019
07:13Modified Experimental Conditions for Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Mice and Assessment of Hearing Function and Outer Hair Cell Damage
Published on: February 10, 2023
Related Concept Videos
00:53Sound Intensity Level
The human ear can perceive an extensive range of sound intensity, necessitating the use of the logarithmic scale to define a physical quantity—the intensity level. It is a ratio of two intensities and hence a...
01:06Echo
Imagine the sound is reflected back to the ears. Assuming that the source is very close to the human, the difference between hearing the two sounds—the emitted sound and the reflected sound—may be more than the minimum time for perceiving distinct sounds. If this is the case, then the...
01:21Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...