Hearing Health Risk in a Population of Aircraft Carrier Flight Deck Personnel

This study evaluated the risk to hearing health associated with duty on the flight deck of a Nimitz class aircraft carrier. Descriptive data includes time-weighted average noise exposure and an evaluation of temporary threshold shift for a group of nonaviator flight deck personnel (FD), and a comparison of accrued permanent threshold shift among three shipboard occupational groups that had been matched for years of military service. The study participants included 76 FD personnel in a high-exposure group, 77 engineers in a moderate-exposure group, and 52 administrative personnel who were considered to have low occupational noise exposure. The study found a mean FD time weighted average of 109 dBA over workdays averaging 11.5 hours. Only 2 (4%) of 52 administrative personnel had any appreciable hearing loss (defined as worse than 20 dB at any frequency 1,000 through 4,000 Hz), whereas FD and engineers demonstrated 17% and 27% hearing impairment, respectively.