Hearing conservation and occupational exposure to noise.
A hearing impairment can have profound psychologic consequences. A major cause of hearing loss is exposure to excessive noise in the workplace. Stricter regulations to protect the hearing of workers became effective this year. A constructive role for the family physician is to educate the patient about the importance of hearing conservation, to reinforce compliance with personal hearing protection measures, and to support appropriate rehabilitative intervention.
D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008452:Maximum Allowable Concentration; D009623:Noise, Occupational / Q000009:adverse effects; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010819:Physician's Role