HEARING LOSS RESEARCH AT NIOSH

Occupational hearing loss is a serious concern for many workers, although the number affected or at risk is uncertain. In conjunction with a request from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for National Academies reviews of up to 15 of its research programs, an Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee reviewed the NIOSH Hearing Loss Research Program.

Hearing Loss Research at NIOSH is the first report in the series Reviews of Research Programs of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Taking into account several important factors beyond the program’s control, the committee found that over the past decade (the period covered by this review), the Hearing Loss Research Program has made meaningful contributions to improving worker health and safety and some of its work is in high-priority subject areas and highly relevant to improvements in workplace protection. However, other work appears to be too narrowly targeted or directed to activities that are secondary to meeting the needs of protecting the hearing of workers.

To enhance the relevance and impact of the program’s work and fulfill its stated mission of providing national and world leadership to reduce the prevalence of occupational hearing loss through a focused program of research and prevention, the committee recommended that the NIOSH Hearing Loss Research Program foster effective leadership in program planning and implementation; further implement program evaluation efforts; gain access to additional intramural and extramural expertise, especially in epidemiology and noise control engineering; and initiate and sustain efforts to obtain surveillance data for occupational hearing loss and workplace noise exposure.