Association of Flying Time with Hearing Loss in Military Pilots

Saudi Journal of Medicine & Medical Sciences
Abdulrhman S Al-OmariNaglaa Fayek Mohamed Hussien

Abstract

Military pilots are exposed to harmful noise levels, and the two possible effects of this are hearing loss and tinnitus. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss among Saudi military pilots and to determine its association with total flight hours and aircraft type (i.e., fixed and rotary wing). This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Armed Forces Aeromedical Centre, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, between November 2015 and October 2016. A total of 150 Saudi military pilots were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Pure-tone audiometry was used to measure hearing thresholds. Hearing threshold levels were compared between age groups and aircraft category. The association between total flying hours and the development of noise-induced hearing loss was analyzed. The overall prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss in the military pilots was 18.4%, with a higher prevalence among fixed-wing pilots (42%) as compared with rotary-wing pilots (23%). Pilots with ≥2000 flying hours had a significantly higher hearing threshold compared with those in other categories. Age was a statistically significant risk factor. This study found that active pilots of both fixed- and rotary-wing aircrafts ...Continue Reading

References

Feb 13, 2010·American Journal of Preventive Medicine·Thomas M HelferTimothy A Mitchener
Sep 13, 2013·Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine·Christopher A OrselloCharles Reese

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Apr 16, 2021·International Journal of Audiology·Graziela Maria Martins-Moreira, Alessandra Spada Durante

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Software Mentioned

SPSS

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Auditory Perception

Auditory perception is the ability to receive and interpret information attained by the ears. Here is the latest research on factors and underlying mechanisms that influence auditory perception.