Noise Exposure in Palestinian Workers Without a Diagnosis of Hearing Impairment: Relations to Speech-Perception-in-Noise Difficulties, Tinnitus, and Hyperacusis.
Adnan M Shehabi, Garreth Prendergast, Hannah Guest and 1 others
PMID 36802819WHAT IT FOUND
Workers with occupational noise exposure reported significantly more sound sensitivity than those without.
Age strongly predicted worse speech-in-noise scores and poorer self-reported hearing. Most other links between noise exposure and hearing difficulties did not survive statistical correction.
Key findings
01Occupational noise exposure was associated with higher hyperacusis scores, an effect that survived correction for multiple comparisons.
02Increasing age was significantly associated with higher DIN thresholds and lower SSQ12 scores, effects that survived correction for multiple comparisons.
03Speech-in-noise performance was similar across exposed and non-exposed groups, but within the exposed group, higher noise levels predicted worse speech-in-noise scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Hearing status was not verified with audiometry, so participants with undiagnosed noise-induced or age-related hearing loss were included. The study relied on self-reported noise exposure and hearing difficulties, which may be inaccurate. Several Arabic versions of the assessment tools were translated but not validated. Online testing conditions varied, with differences in headphones and room acoustics potentially affecting speech-in-noise results. Most associations between noise exposure and hearing outcomes did not survive correction for multiple comparisons.
Declared interests
Funded by the University of Manchester, Medical Research Council, and NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre. No commercial conflicts declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that occupational noise exposure causes speech-in-noise deficits or tinnitus based on this study. These associations did not survive statistical correction for multiple comparisons, and the lack of audiometric verification means undiagnosed hearing loss may explain the findings.