Occupational noise-induced hearing loss reports and tinnitus in Finland.
CONCLUSIONS
In occupational noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) reports, many tinnitus sufferers probably remain undetected and untreated at present. Attention should be focused on tinnitus, as well as threshold shifts resulting from NIHL.


OBJECTIVE
Occupational NIHL is frequent among workers in industrialized countries and it is one of the greatest occupational health hazards. Hearing conservation programs have led to a reduction in the numbers of severe occupational NIHL. Our objectives were to analyze the severity of occupational NIHL reported in Finland, identify risk occupations, and investigate the occurrence of tinnitus among the reported cases.


METHODS
We examined the records of 857 NIHL cases with an identifiable disability category of the total 858 NIHL cases reported in 2000. We sent tinnitus questionnaires to 366 of these NIHL cases.


RESULTS
The degree of speech-frequency hearing loss was generally low, and a mention of tinnitus was reported in only 34 cases (4.0%). However, 88.7% of the patients actually had unreported tinnitus.
Mrena
Roderik
R
Department of ORL, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. roderik_mrena@yahoo.com
Ylikoski
Matti
M
Mäkitie
Antti
A
Pirvola
Ulla
U
Ylikoski
Jukka
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012042:Registries; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000453:epidemiology*