title: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Hearing Conservation Program, 1995-1999: mean hearing thresholds for enlisted personnel by gender and age groups.
abstract: This study presents mean hearing thresholds from a cross-sectional study of 68,632 monitoring audiograms submitted to the Navy Environmental Health Center for 1995 to 1999. Records included U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps enlisted personnel (Navy men = 51,643; Navy women = 4,184; Marine Corps men = 12,251: Marine Corps women = 554). Mean hearing thresholds were calculated for age groups (17-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, and 50 years and older), gender (male/female), and service (Navy/Marine Corps). Although hearing thresholds worsened with increasing age, as expected, Navy and Marine Corps men have worse levels than Occupational Safety and Health Administration age-corrected values throughout most of their careers, whereas women were closer to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration values. Hearing thresholds in the Navy have not improved appreciably from historical reports. Threshold variability, as revealed by standard deviations, increased with age and paralleled threshold levels. This epidemiological information suggests that hearing conservation continues to be an important force health protection issue.
authors.affiliation: Navy Environmental Health Center, 2510 Walmer Drive, Norfolk, VA 23513, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Bohnker
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Page
authors.forename: Glen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rovig
authors.forename: Lawrence S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Betts
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Sack
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology