Applying Kurtosis as an Indirect Metric of Noise Temporal Structure in the Assessment of Hearing Loss Associated With Occupational Complex Noise Exposure

作者：Meibian Zhang, Wei Qiu, Hongwei Xie, Xiaohui Xu, Zhihao Shi, Xiangjing Gao, Lifang Zhou, Hua Zou, Weijiang Hu, Xin Sun · 发表于：Ear and Hearing · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1097/aud.0000000000001068 · 被引用次数：38 · 研究领域：Hearing, Cochlea, Tinnitus, Genetics、Noise Effects and Management、Hearing Loss and Rehabilitation

OBJECTIVE: The association of occupational noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) with noise energy was well documented, but the relationship between occupational noise and noise temporal structure is rarely reported. The objective of this study was to investigate the principal characteristics of the relationship between occupational NIHL and the temporal structure of noise. METHODS: Audiometric and shift-long noise exposure data were collected from 3102 Chinese manufacturing workers from six typical industries through a cross-sectional survey. In data analysis, A-weighted 8-h equivalent SPL (LAeq.8h), peak SPL, and cumulative noise exposure (CNE) were used as noise energy indicators, while kurtosis (β) was used as the indicator of noise temporal structure. Two NIHL were defined: (1) high-frequency noise-induced hearing loss (HFNIHL) and (2) noise-induced permanent threshold shift at test frequencies of 3, 4, and 6 kHz (noise-induced permanent threshold shift [NIPTS346]). The noise characteristics of different types of work and the relationship between these characteristics and the prevalence of NIHL were analyzed. RESULTS: The noise waveform shape, with a specific noise kurtosis, was unique to each type of work. Approximately 27.92% of manufacturing workers suffered from HFNIHL, with a mean NIPTS346 of 24.16 ± 14.13 dB HL. The Spearman correlation analysis showed that the kurtosis value was significantly correlated with the difference of peak SPL minus its LAeq.8h across differen...