An epidemiological perspective of the causes of hearing loss among industrial workers.

An etiologic paradigm of hearing loss for industrial workers is introduced as having two major components, one being occupational and the other extra-occupational. The extra-occupational factors include age, noise exposure outside the work place, trauma, ear disease and ototoxic drugs. The work-related factors include occupational noise, whole body vibration, work-related diseases and toxic exposures. Within this framework, a review of the epidemiology of hearing loss examines the possible relationships between hearing loss and these factors.