Moroe Nomfundo F, Khoza-Shangase Katijah
Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
S Afr J Commun Disord. 2020 Mar 3;67(2):e1-e11. doi: 10.4102/sajcd.v67i2.675.
Current evidence from low- and middle-income (LAMI) countries, such as South Africa, indicates that occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) continues to be a health and safety challenge for the mining industry. There is also evidence of hearing conservation programmes (HCPs) being implemented with limited success.
The aim of this study was to explore and document current evidence reflecting recent advances in HCPs in order to identify gaps within the South African HCPs.
A systematic literature review was conducted in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis. Electronic databases including Sage, Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus MEDLINE, ProQuest and Google Scholar were searched for potential studies published in English between 2010 and 2019 reporting on recent advances in HCPs within the mining industry.
The study findings revealed a number of important recent advances internationally, which require deliberation for possible implementation within the South African HCPs context. These advances have been presented under seven themes: (1) the use of metrics, (2) pharmacological interventions and hair cell regeneration, (3) artificial neural network, (4) audiology assessment measures, (5) noise monitoring advances, (6) conceptual approaches to HCPs and (7) buying quiet.
The study findings raise important advances that may have significant implications for HCPs in LAMI countries where ONIHL remains a highly prevalent occupational health challenge. Establishing feasibility and efficacy of these advances in these contexts to ensure contextual relevance and responsiveness is one of the recommendations to facilitate the success of HCPs targets.
来自南非等低收入和中等收入（LAMI）国家的现有证据表明，职业性噪声性听力损失（ONIHL）仍然是采矿业面临的健康与安全挑战。也有证据表明听力保护计划（HCPs）的实施成效有限。
本研究旨在探索和记录反映HCPs近期进展的现有证据，以识别南非HCPs中的差距。
按照系统评价和Meta分析的首选报告项目进行系统文献综述。在Sage、Science Direct、PubMed、Scopus MEDLINE、ProQuest和谷歌学术等电子数据库中搜索2010年至2019年期间以英文发表的关于采矿业HCPs近期进展的潜在研究。
研究结果揭示了国际上近期的一些重要进展，需要进行审议，以便在南非HCPs的背景下考虑是否可能实施。这些进展分为七个主题呈现：（1）指标的使用；（2）药物干预和毛细胞再生；（3）人工神经网络；（4）听力评估措施；（5）噪声监测进展；（6）HCPs的概念方法；（7）购买安静设备。
研究结果提出了一些重要进展，可能对ONIHL仍然是高度普遍的职业健康挑战的LAMI国家的HCPs产生重大影响。在这些背景下确定这些进展的可行性和有效性，以确保与背景相关并做出响应，是促进HCPs目标成功的建议之一。
