Application of the Proposed Draft American National Standard Method for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Hearing Conservation Programs.

摘要

This study describes the application of the Draft American National ANSI S12.13-1991 (DANS) method for evaluating the effectiveness of hearing conservation programs (HCPs) to audiometric data collected from civilian workers in the U.S. Army during 1968-1992. The DANS method was applied to two groups of workers: those who met the DANS criteria for at least four consecutive tests (Cohort-A4), and those having at least eight consecutive tests (Cohort-A8). While 1.5% (1,193/82,195) of the original population qualified to enter Cohort-A4, only 0.3% (260/82,195) qualified for Cohort-A8. Within each group, the HCP for civilian workers in the Army was rated using four different procedures as applicable (i.e., the Percent Worse Sequential, Percent Better or Worse Sequential, Standard Deviation for individual test frequencies, and Standard Deviation for averaged test frequencies). Where possible, data for men and women were analyzed separately. Each of the four procedures rated the HCP as marginal (scale: acceptable, marginal, unacceptable) for both men and women. The implications of evaluating the effectiveness of an HCP on the basis of a very small proportion of the study population are discussed. ANSI 12.13, Hearing conservation data base, Program evaluation.