2019 NHCA Annual Conference

A sound booth has long been the standard equipment needed to conduct audiological examinations, requiring substantial square footage and a trained on-site audiologist. But within the last 10 years, several companies have worked towards developing novel strategies to bring hearing assessment out of the booth, making services more accessible, while increasing efficiencies. Additional requirements within specialty populations and markets, including foreign and domestic militaries as well as U.S. Veterans, add specialized capabilities to the list of acceptable solutions. With developers rushing to meet these needs, it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with the ever-evolving technological landscape. Moreover, recognizing the growing investment in this field, it is essential to develop frameworks that can be used by decision makers to assess the potential value of innovations in the field, from an early stage of their development. This will help accelerate their uptake and adoption into hearing services. This workshop will be comprised of four parts: 1) an overview of military, Veteran and civilian requirements driving development; 2) the current summary of technologies available as matrixed to meet those requirements; 3) presentations from participating boothless audiometry developer representatives; and 4) hands-on demonstrations to allow participants the opportunity to become familiar with each device. 

A sound booth has long been the standard equipment needed to conduct audiological examinations, requiring substantial square footage and a trained on-site audiologist. But within the last 10 years, several companies have worked towards developing novel strategies to bring hearing assessment out of the booth, making services more accessible, while increasing efficiencies. Additional requirements within specialty populations and markets, including foreign and domestic militaries as well as U.S. Veterans, add specialized capabilities to the list of acceptable solutions. With developers rushing to meet these needs, it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with the ever-evolving technological landscape. Moreover, recognizing the growing investment in this field, it is essential to develop frameworks that can be used by decision makers to assess the potential value of innovations in the field, from an early stage of their development. This will help accelerate their uptake and adoption into hearing services. This workshop will be comprised of four parts: 1) an overview of military, Veteran and civilian requirements driving development; 2) the current summary of technologies available as matrixed to meet those requirements; 3) presentations from participating boothless audiometry developer representatives; and 4) hands-on demonstrations to allow participants the opportunity to become familiar with each device. 

For over 30 years, hearing conservation professionals have known that the Noise Reduction Rating is not necessarily representative of the protection afforded to the average user of hearing protection.

This workshop will present an overview of the technologies available to the hearing conservation professional.  During the first part of the session, attendees will learn about different methods to implement fit-testing, benefits of conducting fit testing the different methods used by various commercially available fit-testing systems.  Information related to the recently approved ANSI/ASA standard for hearing protector fit-test systems will be shared. During the second part of the session, attendees will experience hands-on demonstrations of the various products.

For over 30 years, hearing conservation professionals have known that the Noise Reduction Rating is not necessarily representative of the protection afforded to the average user of hearing protection.

This workshop will present an overview of the technologies available to the hearing conservation professional.  During the first part of the session, attendees will learn about different methods to implement fit-testing, benefits of conducting fit testing the different methods used by various commercially available fit-testing systems.  Information related to the recently approved ANSI/ASA standard for hearing protector fit-test systems will be shared. During the second part of the session, attendees will experience hands-on demonstrations of the various products.

Progressive and permanent sensorineural hearing loss associated with noise exposure (NIHL) is a chronic health condition in agricultural workers.  In addition to the impact of hearing loss on communication, hearing loss and exposure to noise have negative impacts on balance, cardiovascular health, mental health, and cognitive skills.  Recent large-scale public health studies among elderly and middle-aged persons indicated hearing loss presents a significant and independent risk factor for the development of dementia.  This project will examine the hearing status and cognitive skills of aging farmers and ranchers over the age of 50.  Audiological assessment and a hearing health history will be obtained for each participant.  Pure tone average and Speech Intelligibility Index will be computed.  Due to the fact that agricultural workers often have concomitant hearing loss, the memory and cognitive processing tests used for this study will assess cognitive status through the visual and visual-motor domains.  The following screening tests are proposed for the first phase of this study:  The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), Stroop Color and Word Test (STROOP) and the Digit Symbol Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSS).  The data obtained will provide new information regarding the impact of long-term hearing loss on cognition in older agricultural workers, and also provide a foundation of knowledge for longitudinal studies.

Hazardous noise exposure has been identified as a hearing health risk in sugar industry workers (Rao et al, 2015, Rocha et al, 2010). Suryaprakasa et al (2015) have reported sound pressure levels ranging between 85 to 96 dB[A] in the working population of a sugar mill in Andrhra Pradesh, India. Representative noise dosimetry studies were conducted on 51 workers performing 22 sugar cane mill jobs in a Guatemalan sugar mill. The majority of departments/jobs exceeded the ACGIH/NIOSH recommended exposure limit of 100% noise dose (85 dBA time-weighted average). Noise doses ranged from a low of 51.9% to an extreme of 25174%. Ninety percent of noise dosimetry samples were between 50% to 1200% dose. Sugar mill workers are at risk of noise-induced hearing loss and a hearing loss prevention program including engineering noise control is recommended for these workers.

The purpose of this study is to identify and describe noise exposures and hearing loss among farmers, to explore factors that influence farmers‚ a high-frequency pure tone average hearing thresholds, and to evaluate changes in hearing over time due to a point-source intervention. The intervention consisted of a box containing hearing protection devices placed near loud noise sources on the farm. Maximum noise exposures were at 102 dB. Farmers have high-frequency hearing loss. Standard threshold shifts and high-frequency notches were identified, many affecting left ears. Farmers in the control group had poorer low-frequency hearing than farmers in the intervention group (p=0.01). Farmers experience high-frequency hearing loss. Left ears were less sensitive than right ears. Presbycusis is evident in the study population. However, sensorineural hearing loss appears to be common among this group of farmers especially in the left ear. Long-term follow-up is warranted.