Mar 12, 2018

New NIOSH Studies Examine Hearing Loss Prevalence in Workers


  • This study found that the prevalence of hearing loss among noise-exposed workers in the Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting (AFFH) sector is 15%. However, when researchers examined industries within the sector, they found as many as 36%—or 1 in 3 noise-exposed workers—have hearing loss. This is the first study to estimate prevalence and risk for hearing loss for subsectors within the Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting industry sector. The study was published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. Learn more.
  • This study breaks down the prevalence of hearing loss experienced by workers in the Health Care and Social Assistance (HSA) sector. The overall prevalence of hearing loss among noise-exposed workers was found to be 19%, while some subsectors within the HSA had up to 31% prevalence of hearing loss. The study was published recently in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental MedicineLearn more.