Daniell William E, Fulton-Kehoe Deborah, Cohen Martin, Swan Susan S, Franklin Gary M
Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
Am J Ind Med. 2002 Dec;42(6):502-10. doi: 10.1002/ajim.10146.
Workers' compensation claims for hearing loss increased two-fold during 1984-1991 in Washington State.
This population-based descriptive study examined 27,019 claims filed during 1984-1998 and accepted for hearing loss, in the workers' compensation jurisdiction that covers nearly all non-federal workers in Washington State.
The number of claims increased 12-fold during 1984-1998. The annual incidence reached 2.6/1,000 workers statewide, and 70/1,000 in the most impacted industry. The increase involved all ages over 35 years, especially claimants over 65 years. Only 4% of providers accounted for 66% of claims. Most claimants (90%) received permanent partial disability compensation. In 1998, identifiable costs exceeded $57 million dollars.
The striking increase in claims is probably largely due to reporting phenomena unrelated to current work circumstances. However, occupational hearing loss is probably much more common than usually recognized, and contemporary workers may still face substantial risk for hearing loss.
1984年至1991年期间，华盛顿州因听力损失提出的工伤赔偿申请增加了两倍。
这项基于人群的描述性研究调查了1984年至1998年期间提交的、在华盛顿州几乎涵盖所有非联邦工人的工伤赔偿管辖范围内被受理的27019份听力损失索赔申请。
1984年至1998年期间，索赔数量增加了12倍。全州年发病率达到每1000名工人中有2.6例，在受影响最严重的行业中为每1000名工人中有70例。增长涉及所有35岁以上的年龄组，尤其是65岁以上的索赔者。仅4%的索赔由66%的索赔者提出。大多数索赔者（90%）获得了永久性部分残疾赔偿。1998年，可确定的成本超过5700万美元。
索赔的显著增加可能主要归因于与当前工作环境无关的报告现象。然而，职业性听力损失可能比通常认为的更为普遍，当代工人仍可能面临听力损失的重大风险。
