Navy Presentations
The Fleet Review Board, a Force for Change
CDR Glen Rovig, MSC
Navy Environmental Health Center, Norfolk, VA
The presentation will describe a successful defense of the Navy Hearing Conservation Program (HCP) before the Fleet Review Board (FRB). The FRB is a group of Flag Officers, Fleet Master Chiefs, and other senior Line personnel tasked by the Chief of Naval Operations with reducing the the Inter-Deployment Training Cycle (ITDC) by at least 20%. The ITDC includes a multitude of inspections, training, qualifications, and other administrative taskings which contribute to 14-16 hour workdays while in port.
In a 31 March FRB briefing, Operational Audiologist CDR Glen Rovig, MSC, described a planned 40% reduction in Fleet manhours through disenrollment of personnel not at risk, provision of training in conjunction with the annual audiogram, streamlined follow-up procedures, and recordkeeping/tracking improvements associated with conversion to Defense Occupational Health Readiness System – Hearing Conservation module (DOHRS-HC). The FRB accepted the briefing and recommendations without change.
As the military services downsize, it is a time for aggressive cost-benefits analysis. Military unique operations are currently exempt from OSHA oversight, and the only true mandate for most occupational health and safety programs is preserved readiness through Force Health Protection. Survival of our programs requires that we keep good metrics and stay “lean and mean”.
The Hearing in Noise Test in Determining Fitness for Duty
Ms. Lynn Cook
Those of us working in occupational audiology are often faced with fitness for duty questions when hearing is a factor. In certain occupations, binaural hearing is necessary to ensure that the individual is able to perform the job in a safe and effective manner. Adequate auditory localization and speech recognition in noise may be critical skills, however, there is no standardized way of quantifying them. As a result, fitness for duty questions may be resolved in different ways by different audiologists in different clinical settings.
The Hearing In Noise Test (HINT) is a commercially available test designed to measure functional hearing abilities, i.e., that which enables a person to perform normally those daily activities that involve hearing. It is a pre-recorded, adaptive speech test that directly quantifies the clear superiority of binaural vice monaural hearing. It has been subjected to rigorous normative procedures, has a known standard error of measurement, and has demonstrated a high degree of test/retest reliability. A new headphones version of the test designed for use on a Windows-based PC would tie in nicely with our new DOHRS-HC systems.
The HINT has already been incorporated into hearing standards for a variety of federal and local law enforcement agencies, and has withstood at least one court challenge involving a firefighter. We should consider incorporating the HINT into our currently woefully inadequate standards for auditory fitness for duty.
An Investigation of Speech Recognition Abilities Using SPRINT
Mr. Tom Hutchison
Audiologists, associated with the military, have utilized a number of approaches to predict how personnel with varying degrees of hearing loss might carry out their individual missions within an environment of competing noise. It is well recognized that there is little difference in speech recognition scores, in-quiet, for normal hearing v. those with significant, high frequency, hearing loss. The present investigation compared the speech recognition abilities, in-noise, of active duty and civil service industrial workers, with a history of noise exposure. Scores were first derived using conventional, monitored-live-voice (MLV) testing, imbedded in speech noise at 50/50 and 70/70. These results were compared to those derived from the CD recorded Speech Perception & Recognition In Noise Test (SPRINT). Individuals were classified according to a hearing profile category, according to AR 40-501, for comparison purposes.
There were predictive indicators provided by both the 50/50 and 70/70 speech-in-noise tests as well as from the SPRINT, in each hearing category. There was a high correlation between the aggregated SPRINT scores and MLV scores obtained using the 70/70 condition but not for individuals listeners. SPRINT word errors were also compared to SPRINT phoneme errors to measure the effect of a higher number of measurable units.
Noise Levels Associated with Current Motion Pictures Digital Sound Systems
Keith Wolgemuth, Ph.D.
LCDR MSC USN
Naval Medical Center, San Diego
Noise dosimeter data will be presented concerning the time weighted average and noise dosages of several “action” motion pictures being shown in movie theaters with digital sound systems. This is an attempt to lend some objectivity to the subjective impressions some individuals have that movie soundtracks can often be “too loud” during both previews and action scenes of some films.
EOAEs in NITTS and NIPTS Cases from a Hearing-Conservation Program
Lynne Marshall, Laurie M. Heller, Linda J.Westhusin
Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory, Groton, Connecticut
A four-year longitudinal study of noise-exposed people was conducted at the Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory. Audiograms and a test battery of evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOAEs) were administered annually. The EOAE test battery included transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs). Both noise-induced temporary shifts (NITTS) and noise-induced permanent threshold shifts (NIPTS) were identified. There were 12 samples of NITTS, and 9 clear-cut samples of NIPTS. Six additional subjects had a probable NIPTS (defined as a 15 dB shift after being noise-free for at least 14 hours, but unconfirmed by repeated testing). Case studies are used to illustrate the relationship of EOAEs to noise-induced temporary and permanent hearing-threshold shifts.