Estimating miners at risk for occupational noise-induced hearing loss: A review of data from a South African platinum mine.
Liepollo Ntlhakana, Gill Nelson, Katijah Khoza-Shangase
PMID 32242442WHAT IT FOUND
Miners with no baseline hearing loss were still estimated to have a 20% risk, and tuberculosis or HIV status was not recorded in the mine's records.
Key findings
01Even miners with 0% baseline percentage hearing loss were estimated to have a 20% risk of developing occupational noise-induced hearing loss.
02More than 80% of miners (n = 1578) were exposed to noise above 85 dBA, and 64% were in the two highest exposure categories.
03The records did not include tuberculosis or HIV status, and no miner had the two diagnostic audiometry records needed to confirm ONIHL.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The data came from one platinum mine and were collected for the mine's own records, not for this study. The main analysed records were miners already referred for diagnostic audiometry. Tuberculosis, HIV, medication and chemical exposure information were not in the audiology records. Only 34% of miners had baseline audiometry records, and monitoring audiometry records were missing. No miner had the two diagnostic audiometry records needed to confirm ONIHL. Noise exposure risk rankings and exposure duration were not recorded. The mine used percentage hearing loss rather than the newer standard threshold shift milestones. Speech audiometry data were absent from the diagnostic audiometry records.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that baseline percentage hearing loss is a dependable early warning screen. The mine's 2.5% referral threshold delayed identification, and records lacked tuberculosis, HIV, chemical exposure and exposure duration data.