Dose-response relationship for continuous noise induced high frequency hearing loss with two different noise measurements and assessments in textile workers

Abstract

Objective Comparing dose-response relationship for continuous noise induced hearing loss with sound pressure level,L Aeq.8h and cumulative noise exposure.Methods Four groups of textile workers were designed as investigating subjects,three to five workers were selected to measure L Aeq.8h with dosimeter for each group in each shift workday.L Aeq.1 min were measured with sound level meter and lattice sampling method in same workshops.Questionnaire and hearing measurement were carried out in the 163 textile workers.Results The adjusted prevalence of high frequency noise induced hearing loss(HFNIHL)was 64.4%(105/163),and the adjusted prevalence of low frequency noise induced hearing loss was 2.5%(4/163).The prevalence of HFNIHL was increased in higher noise exposure groups,that means there was a typical dose-response relationship for noise induced HFNIHL in the continuous noise exposure population.Trend chi-square and logistic model analysis showed that cumulative noise exposure(CNE)and L Aeq.8h assessment model was better than other models by dose-response assessment.Conclusion CNE and L Aeq.8h assessment model is one of the best potential candidate models for assessing industrial continuous noise exposure,it needs more observation in different kinds of industrial noise exposure population to confirm the hypothesis.