More than half of factory workers who thought they had excellent or good hearing actually suffered hearing loss and didn’t even recognize the problem. That's the key finding of a new research study conducted by the University of Michigan School of Nursing, which suggests that healthcare providers need better methods of testing and protecting hearing among factory workers.
Of 2,691 noise-exposed automobile factory workers surveyed, 76% reported excellent or good hearing. However, formal hearing tests revealed that 42% of those workers actually suffered hearing loss. This finding suggests that self-reported hearing loss is poorly related to the results of formal hearing testing. In other words, many factory workers might have hearing loss and not even realize there’s a problem.
Read more about the study itself here.
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