Work Disability and Rehabilitation in Workers with Hearing Loss: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Disability Studies
• Public Health

Background:

• Inclusive employment initiatives are increasing workforce diversity.
• Hearing loss is a prevalent, often invisible disability posing occupational health challenges.
• Understanding how employees with hearing loss navigate work is critical for policy and practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize evidence on how individuals with hearing loss manage workplace demands.
• To examine the implications of hearing loss for occupational health policy and practice.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review adhering to PRISMA-ScR guidelines.
• Systematic literature searches across major databases (Scopus, PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science) from 2010-2025.
• Thematic analysis of 34 eligible studies.

Main Results:

• Identified four themes: individual management strategies (communication, disclosure), workplace accommodations (technology, environment, training, social support) with implementation gaps, occupational health outcomes (psychosocial impacts, fatigue, stress), and multi-level recommendations.
• Individual strategies and workplace accommodations show potential but face inconsistent application.
• Significant occupational health implications include psychosocial stress, communication barriers, and increased need for recovery.

Conclusions:

• Workplace hearing loss has substantial occupational health consequences, affecting wellbeing and requiring effective accommodations.
• Inconsistent implementation of accommodations hinders inclusive employment and health outcomes.
• Further rigorous evaluation of interventions and accommodations is needed, especially in low- and middle-income countries.