Assignment+Description

Exposure-Related Hearing Loss Background Hearing loss (partial or total deafness) can result from injury, illness, age, and exposure to loud noise. Prolonged exposure to sound or exposure to very loud sounds is probably the most common and most preventable cause of cumulative hearing loss. With noisy environments, noisy workplaces, and people exposing themselves to high levels of sound via portable media devices acquired hearing loss is becoming more common. Testing a person’s hearing or making measurements of noise levels is very straightforward but requires expensive equipment and trained personnel. Aims The aim of this project is to develop a simple, cheap, and easily administered self-report questionnaire/checklist which assesses two things: > > The “loss” and “risk” assessments could include items related to for experiences (e.g., subjective experiences of sounds), behaviours (e.g., what people choose to listen to), and environmental features (e.g., sounds in the places where people live and work) which are related to (exposure related) hearing loss. The idea is that this cheap self-report instrument might be a screening tool which would alert users to problems requiring further investigation. The validation protocol should make use of OBJECTIVE hearing tests and address possible issues of social desirability and faking (both faking good and faking bad). The measure should also consider the relevance of age and gender in the norming process. Some key words to know: audiometry; SPL (sound pressure level) meter; A-weighting; Some starter references Australian(and New Zealand) Standard AS 1269 gives guidance on what on recommended safe levels of occupational noise exposure. Getting hold of this document can be hard, but there are a number of sites where you can access the same information. For example http://www.safework.sa.gov.au/uploaded_files/Noise.pdf Some indication of how widespread hearing damage might be Wilson, D. H., Walsh, P.G., Sanchez, L., Davis, A.C., Taylor, A.W., Tucker, G., & Meagher, I. (1999). The epidemiology of hearing impairment in an Australian population. International Journal of Epidemiology, 28, 247-252. A possible cause of exposure induced loss Vogel, I., Brug, J., van der Ploeg, C.P.B., & Raat, H. (2007). Young people’s exposure to loud music: A summary of the literature. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 33(2), 124-133.
 * 1)  Possible hearing loss
 * 1)  Risk factors for potential future hearing loss