Critical analysis of the effectiveness of secondary prevention of occupational hearing loss.

There is an unavoidable error margin associated with audiometric measurements. This error margin was used to set specificity and sensitivity criteria for repeated testing of hearing. The criteria were applied to the time growth function of occupational hearing loss for typical noise exposures. It is shown that monitoring audiometry can be an effective screening procedure only for the first five to ten years of exposure to a given noise environment. A strategy for effective secondary prevention of occupational hearing loss is outlined.