Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (Dr Rabinowitz, Ms Ramirez, Ms Trufan); Yale Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut (Ms Cantley, Mr Galusha); Yale School of Management, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (Mr Swersey); Otogienex, LLC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Ms Dixon-Ernst); and Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Dr Neitzel).
J Occup Environ Med. 2018 Jan;60(1):29-35. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001125.
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) remains one of the most prevalent occupational diseases. Occupational hearing conservation programs (HCPs) can reduce the risk of NIHL, but there remains no consensus on assessing HCP effectiveness. We conducted a multisite, mixed-method assessment of HCP programs.
At 13 manufacturing plants, we performed assessments, including interviews with program staff and worker focus groups and surveys. We analyzed the association between these assessments and age-corrected NIHL rates.
Only a few items from the HCP staff interviews correlated with NIHL rates. For the employee survey, management commitment to NIHL prevention and being counseled about NIHL were strongly associated with NIHL rates.
Management commitment and counseling of workers about NIHL may be key factors in program effectiveness. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods appears to be useful for assessing HCPs.
噪声性听力损失（NIHL）仍然是最常见的职业病之一。职业听力保护计划（HCP）可以降低 NIHL 的风险，但对于 HCP 效果的评估仍未达成共识。我们进行了一项多地点、混合方法的 HCP 计划评估。
在 13 家制造工厂中，我们进行了评估，包括对计划工作人员和工人焦点小组的访谈以及调查。我们分析了这些评估与年龄校正后的 NIHL 率之间的关联。
仅从 HCP 员工访谈中获得的少数项目与 NIHL 率相关。对于员工调查，管理层对预防 NIHL 的承诺以及接受关于 NIHL 的咨询与 NIHL 率密切相关。
管理层对 NIHL 的预防承诺和对工人的咨询可能是计划有效性的关键因素。定性和定量方法的结合似乎对于评估 HCP 很有用。
