Bohnker Bruce K, Page John C, Rovig Glen W, Betts Lawrence S, Sack David M
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Directorate, Navy Environmental Health Center, 620 John Paul Jones Road, Portsmouth, VA 23708, USA.
Mil Med. 2004 Jan;169(1):73-6. doi: 10.7205/milmed.169.1.73.
This study provides a cross-sectional, population-based analysis of significant threshold shifts (STS) from over 83,000 audiograms on active duty members in the Navy Hearing Conservation Program Database for 1995-1999. Crude STS rates were lower for women than men (odds ration [OR], 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76-0.89; p = 0.0000) and lower for officer than enlisted (OR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.66-0.76; p = 0.000000). STS rates also increased significantly with increasing age (chi2 for trend, 134; p = 0.0000). Compared with historical information, STS rates for officers were significantly lower (OR, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.18-0.27; p = 0.00000). Adjustment by logistic regression found STS rates were lower for women (OR, 0.837; 95% CI, 0.773-0.905; p = 0.000) and officer status (OR, 0.670; 95% CI, 0.619-0.725; p = 0.0000), and increased significantly with age. These findings warrant further investigation because they have programmatic implications on Navy hearing conservation and force health protection.
