Documents audiometric tests 10 results

"Objectives The objective of this systematic review was to compare otoacoustic emissions (OAE) with audiometry in their effectiveness to monitor effects of long-term noise exposure on hearing.
Methods We conducted a systematic search of MEDLINE, Embase and the non-MEDLINE subset of PubMed up to March 2016 to identify longitudinal studies on effects of noise exposure on hearing as determined by both audiometry and OAE.
Results This review comprised 13 articles, with 30–350 subjects in the longitudinal analysis. A meta-analysis could not be performed because the studies were very heterogeneous in terms of measurement paradigms, follow-up time, age of included subjects, inclusion of data points, outcome parameters and method of analysis. Overall there seemed to be small changes in both audiometry and OAE over time. Individual shifts were detected by both methods but a congruent pattern could not be observed. Some studies found that initial abnormal or low-level emissions might predict future hearing loss but at the cost of low specificity due to a high number of false positives. Other studies could not find such predictive value.
Conclusions The reported heterogeneity in the studies calls for more uniformity in including, reporting and analyzing longitudinal data for audiometry and OAE. For the overall results, both methods showed small changes from baseline towards a deterioration in hearing. OAE could not reliably detect threshold shifts at individual level. With respect to the predictive value of OAE, the evidence was not conclusive and studies were not in agreement. The reported predictors had low specificity."

"The book provides on overview of the evaluation, prevention and control of exposure to noise at the workplace. Besides chapters on fundamentals of acoustics, physiology and pathophysiology of the ear and hearing, exposure criteria, strategy for noise surveys and details on the instruments, their use and calibration, audiometry and hearing protection, other chapters emphasise the noise reduction at source as the first choice for preventing hearing loss. Sources of information and a list of relevant case studies are given in the last chapter, emphasising the importance of standards for noise control at the design stage.
This book presents among other things the relations of the different fields to the newest state of international standards.
The FIOSH publised it on behalf of the World Health Organizations."

"L'"ipoacusia da rumore" costituisce circa il 54% di tutte le malattie professionali indennizzate dall'INAIL. Questo testo, che deriva dalle lezioni tenute negli ultimi dieci anni presso la Scuola di specializzazione in Medicina dell'Università di Milano, raccoglie nozioni di acustica, indizioni pratiche per procedere alla valutazione del rumore negli ambienti di lavoro, nozioni relative alle caratteristiche e alle modalità di funzionamento degli strumenti, formule per il calcolo del Livello di Esposizione Personale (LEP) come previsto dal DDL 277/1991, principi generali di bonifica ambientale.

Per quanto riguarda l'ipoacusia da rumore, vengono dapprima presi in considerazione aspetti generali quali autonomia e fisiologia dell'apparato uditivo, tecniche di misura dell'udito e principi di diagnostica audiologica, quindi argomenti più specifici: eziologia e patogenesi del trauma acustico, rapporti tra rumore e danno, percorsi diagnostici, prevenzione valutazioni medico-legali.

Corredano il volume le tabelle per il calcolo predittivo dei deficit uditivi di lavoratori esposti al rumore occupazionale (ISO 1999) e valori di riferimento della soglia uditiva attesa di maschi e femmine per anno di età. Una bibliografia aggiornata consente infine al lettore un notevole approfondimento dell'argomento.

Questo libro è uno strumento che, grazie alla ricchezza e alla completezza delle informazioni, mette lo specialista in grado, non solo di fare una corretta diagnosi della malattia, ma anche di valutare e misurare il rumore stesso e di affrontare i numerosi problemi derivanti dalle leggi relative agli ambienti di lavoro e da quelle assicurative sia in campo penale che civile."

"How and why do physicians come to regard certain medical disorders as work-related? Is this process merely a matter of gathering and interpreting empirical evidence or is it a complex social phenomenon? In this fascinating book, Allard Dembe studies the histories of three ailments now commonly considered to be work-related--cumulative trauma disorders (especially carpal tunnel syndrome), occupational back pain, and noise-induced hearing loss--and demonstrates that numerous social factors affect whether the medical community recognizes an illness as job-related.
According to Dembe, physicians may be influenced by such social factors as: the advent of new technologies (computers replacing typewriters, for example); passage of laws establishing workers' compensation; union campaigns and labor activism; public outcry against environmental hazards; cultural stereotyping (some complaints of hearing loss, for example, have been linked to nervous tendencies of women); medical specialization and competition (diagnosis of back pain as a traumatic injury corresponded with the growth of orthopedics after World War I); and media attention. Dembe contends that physicians have been forced to act as society's gatekeepers--referees in controversies having significant implications for labor relations and the industrial economy. He maintains that physicians should instead be free to concentrate on the health of patients and suggests alternative methods for conferring appropriate medical benefits and ensuring protection against occupational hazards."