Evaluation of industrial hearing conservation programs: a review and analysis

In 1981, a large scale reviews of the literature concerning the effects of noise on hearing was initiated by the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Diseases and Stroke. This review concentrated on the information published in the decade of the 1970's and underscored the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of industrial hearing conservation programs. Published information on this topic was scanty prior to 1970. Investigations of the application and utility of methods for this evaluation have only recently begun to appear in the literature. The status of evaluating hearing conservation programs is the subject of the present review. Three evaluation methods are considered in detail: use of various proposed criteria for significant threshold shift; methods used by Pell at DuPont; and more recent methods developed by Royster. The condition and availability of data do not permit selection of the optimum evaluation procedure. Systematic collection and analysis of data from industrial programs are necessary if acceptable standardized procedures for evaluation of hearing conservation programs are to be developed.