Abstract:

The method proposed uses the area under a statistical distribution of hearing levels in which the hearing threshold level is about 25 dB. These areas, normalized to 100 individuals, can be calculated for both non-noise-exposed populations as well as populations with various noise exposures. The statistical distributions are calculated by the procedures outlined in ANSI Standard S3.44. One minus the ratio of the non-noise-exposed area to the noise-exposed area provides a fair means for the allocation of hearing loss between noise and presbycusis. This approach considers an individual as representative of a group of exposed workers. This idea was first proposed in Air Force Medical Research Laboratory Technical Report No. TR-80-032, September 1983, Wright--Patterson Air Force Base, OH.