Studies of Aural Nonlinearity and the Mechanisms of Auditory Fatigue. Epidemiologic Methods in Noise-Induced Hearing Loss.
Abstract
With the shift in the major causes of death from infectious to chronic disease, the field of epidemiology has shifted its emphasis. In seeking the cause of disease, epidemiologists examine individual risk factors as well as external or environmental agents. Developing rigorous methods for such description is a major activity of this discipline. The past two decades have witnessed a growth in the number of scientists concerned with the distribution of noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) in industrial populations. Studies have incorporated some of the epidemiological principles which have evolved for studying other chronic diseases; however, many available methodological and analytical techniques have been overlooked. Through application of tools of epidemiology we may form a picture of the causes and /or risks of NIHL which is very different from those which we have seen in the past. This paper reviews these epidemiologic strategies and, using data from well known studies, shows how they present additional information about noise-induced deafness.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA173579
Entities
People
- John Erdreich
- Linda S. Erdreich
Organizations
- University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center