Peripheral vestibular loss in noise-exposed firefighters

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Neuroscience
• Audiology

Background:

• Occupational noise exposure poses risks to hearing, but vestibular system impacts are less understood.
• Firefighters are a population at risk due to chronic noise exposure in their profession.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess vestibular end organ function in firefighters using electrophysiologic measures.
• To compare cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP) in noise-exposed firefighters versus controls.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional observational study involving 38 firefighters grouped by years of noise exposure.
• Comparison of cVEMP response characteristics (amplitude, latency, threshold) between firefighters and matched controls.

Main Results:

• Firefighters exhibited significantly decreased cVEMP amplitudes and higher thresholds compared to controls.
• A higher incidence of absent cVEMP responses was observed in firefighters.
• Vestibular response amplitudes decreased with increasing years of service in firefighters.

Conclusions:

• Noise exposure in firefighters can lead to early, subclinical changes in vestibular function.
• These findings highlight a potential for hidden vestibular loss in at-risk occupational groups.
• cVEMP is a valuable tool for detecting early vestibular system alterations due to noise.