IDENTIFYING RISK FACTORS FOR NOISE INDUCED HEARING LOSS

噪声性听力损失是最常见的职业病之一 疾病。3000万美国工人面临潜在的 危险的工作场所噪音。噪音引起的听力损失被认为是 是完全可以预防的，但关于总体上的问题仍然存在 工业听力保护计划的有效性及其如何 可以持续地进行评估和改进。一些科学的 障碍包括：1.关于如何最好地使用听力测试的争议 评估听力保护计划。2.理解不全面 听力损失易感性的危险因素。3.未经验证， 个体噪声性听力损失的早期指标。4.不 可应用的噪声性听力损失的明确案例定义 到听力测听数据集。5.纵向数据库不足 接触噪音的工人，包括足够的噪音资料 随着时间的推移暴露。 在这项研究中，噪声暴露工人的大型纵向数据集 在铝冶炼厂和煤矿将进行评估和清洁。一个 参观工厂以审查公司记录将提高 现有的暴露评估。通过嵌套病例对照和队列 在这种方法下，将对数据集进行分析，目的是：目标1。 在研究中确定噪音引起的听力损失的真实比率 地点。目标2.评估东道主和 噪声性听力损失的环境危险因素。目标3. 识别和验证噪声性听力的早期指标 损失。目标4.制定和验证噪声的案例定义-- 致聋，可用于今后的流行病学研究。

Noise-induced hearing loss is one of the most common occupational diseases. Thirty million US workers are exposed to potentially hazardous workplace noise. Noise-induced hearing loss is considered to be totally preventable, yet questions persist about the overall effectiveness of industrial hearing conservation programs and how they can be evaluated and improved on an ongoing basis. Some scientific barriers include: 1. Controversy about how best to use audiometry to evaluate a hearing conservation program. 2. Incomplete understanding of risk factors for susceptibility to hearing loss. 3. No validated, early indicators of noise-induced hearing loss in an individual. 4. No clear case definition of noise-induced hearing loss which can be applied to audiometric data sets. 5. Insufficient longitudinal databases of noise exposed workers which include adequate information about noise exposure over time. In this study, a large longitudinal data set of noise-exposed workers in an aluminum smelter and coal mine will be assessed and cleaned. A plant visit to review company records will increase the accuracy of existing exposure assessments. Through a nested case control and cohort approach, the data set will be analyzed with the aims of: Aim 1. Determining the true rate of noise-induced hearing loss at the study site. Aim 2. Assessing the relative importance of host and environmental risk factors for noise-induced hearing loss. Aim 3. Identifying and validating early indicators of noise-induced hearing loss. Aim 4. Developing and validating a case definition of noise- induced hearing loss which can be used in future epidemiologic research.