ILO Home
Go to the home page
Site map | Contact us Français | Español

CISDOC database

Document ID (ISN)106529
CIS number 07-569
ISSN - Serial title 1059-924X - Journal of Agromedicine
Year 2005
Convention or series no.
Author(s) Rabinowitz P.M., Sircar K.D., Tarabar S., Galusha D., Slade M.D.
Title Hearing loss in migrant agricultural workers
Bibliographic information 2005, Vol.10, No.4, p.9-17. Illus. 20 ref.
Abstract This cross-sectional survey of 150 migrant agricultural workers was conducted to assess the prevalence and impact of hearing loss in this population, using a bilingual questionnaire. Pure tone audiometry and tympanometry were performed in a mobile testing van. More than half the subjects had some degree of hearing loss, especially in the higher frequencies. Hispanic males in the sample had significantly greater prevalence of high-frequency hearing loss compared to those in the national Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES). More than 35% of respondents complained of subjective difficulty hearing or understanding speech. Even after adjusting for measured hearing loss, Hispanic farm workers were more likely than their English-speaking counterparts to complain of difficulty hearing or understanding speech, suggesting that language barriers could worsen the impact of hearing loss. Risk factors for hearing loss included age, abnormal tympanometry, and exposures to noise and pesticides. The use of hearing protection was rare.
Descriptors (primary) USA; agriculture; migrant workers; hearing loss
Descriptors (secondary) speech communication; safety consciousness; subjective assessment; noise; audiometric tests; cross-sectional study; speech audiometry; frequency rates; tympanic membrane changes
Document type D - Periodical articles
Country / State or ProvinceUSA
Subject(s) Occupational pathology
Broad subject area(s) Occupational medicine, epidemiology
Industries and occupations
Browse category(ies) Agriculture
Diseases of the ear and hearing damage