Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
S Afr J Commun Disord. 2020 Apr 28;67(1):e1-e7. doi: 10.4102/sajcd.v67i1.638.
Occupational activities performed by sound engineers are associated with hearing loss. However, there is a dearth of research on the hearing functions and the related hearing loss for sound engineers.
To determine the hearing function and early effects of noise on the hearing ability of sound engineers, and to establish whether there are hearing conservation programmes (HCPs) available for sound engineer participants in Johannesburg.
A quantitative cross-sectional design was used. Eight sound engineers from the Academy of Sound Engineering (ASE) participated in the study. The following data were collected from the participants: case history data, ear-related symptoms and hearing conservation data. Hearing screening followed by full diagnostic audiological assessments was conducted for each participant. Descriptive statistics and one-sample t-test were used to analyse the data (confidence interval [CI] = 95%).
Participants reported tinnitus and aural fullness as common complaints. Only one participant had a unilateral impacted cerumen. All the participants presented with hearing within normal limits bilaterally, with a percentage loss of hearing (PLH) of 1.1% for all the participants. However, five participants presented with a notched configuration that was ≥ 10 decibel (dB), in the high frequency region at 3000 Hz and 6000 Hz bilaterally. One-sample t-test (p = 0.001) inferred that at a mean age of 27.6 years (standard deviation [SD] = 3.85), a notch at 3000 Hz and 6000 Hz was associated with an early sign of a hearing loss for the study participants. An HCP was not in place at the study site.
The study indicated a younger age as an associated early sign of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) for the study participants, and that audiologists' clinical practice needs to explore HCP strategies specific for the sound engineers in order to prevent hearing loss.
音响工程师的职业活动与听力损失有关。然而，对于音响工程师的听力功能和相关听力损失，研究甚少。
确定音响工程师的听力功能和噪声对听力能力的早期影响，并确定约翰内斯堡的音响工程师是否有听力保护计划（HCP）。
采用定量的横断面设计。ASE 的 8 名音响工程师参与了这项研究。从参与者那里收集了以下数据：病史数据、耳部相关症状和听力保护数据。对每位参与者进行听力筛查，然后进行全面的诊断性听力学评估。使用描述性统计和单样本 t 检验对数据进行分析（置信区间[CI] = 95%）。
参与者报告耳鸣和耳闷是常见的投诉。只有一名参与者有单侧耵聍栓塞。所有参与者的双耳听力均在正常范围内，所有参与者的听力损失百分比（PLH）为 1.1%。然而，有 5 名参与者在高频区域 3000Hz 和 6000Hz 出现双侧≥10 分贝（dB）的切迹。单样本 t 检验（p = 0.001）推断，在平均年龄为 27.6 岁（标准差[SD] = 3.85）的情况下，3000Hz 和 6000Hz 的切迹与研究参与者早期听力损失的一个迹象有关。研究现场没有 HCP。
该研究表明，年龄较小是研究参与者噪声性听力损失（NIHL）的一个早期相关迹象，听力学家的临床实践需要探索针对音响工程师的 HCP 策略，以预防听力损失。
