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Guidelines for quantification of noise-induced hearing loss in a medicolegal context
M E Lutman1, R R A Coles2, J T Buffin3
1Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Objectives:
Guidelines published in 2000 by the authors are widely used by medical and legal professionals in the UK for diagnosis of noise-induced hearing loss in a medicolegal context. However, they cannot be used for quantification of the noise-induced hearing loss, which is required in most cases. This requirement is addressed.
Design:
A method is developed here to quantify noise-induced hearing loss, thereby overcoming this shortcoming.
Setting:
Assessment of noise-induced hearing loss in medicolegal cases.
Participants:
A consecutive series of 124 cases of noise-induced hearing loss is used for evaluation.
Main Outcome Measure:
Magnitude of noise-induced hearing loss based on hearing threshold levels averaged over the frequencies 1, 2 and 3 kHz.
Results:
The rationale of the method, practical application and three worked examples are developed. A simpler short-cut method is developed and shown to be equivalent to the full method in most cases.
Conclusions:
The method offers a practical approach to quantification of noise-induced hearing loss.
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