In monitoring audiometry, adjustments to threshold changes (often called age corrections) can be used to account for changes in hearing that may be due to non-noise factors.  The OSHA hearing conservation amendment (45 CFR 1910.95) includes an age adjustment table based on a relatively small NIOSH study from the early 1970s. However, if age adjustments are used, the OSHA Technical Manual currently recommends using recently published age adjustment data (Flamme et al., 2019) instead of the tables in the OSHA hearing conservation amendment.  The updated age adjustment tables reveal a population trend toward less age-related change than the original NIOSH tables at younger ages, address differences by race/ethnicity, and extend the age range to account for older workers in today’s workforce.  NIOSH continues to recommend against any age adjustment in threshold shift determination.  This presentation includes the underpinnings of the NIOSH adjustment tables in the noise standard, the validity issues that initiated the update, and the development and validation of the age adjustment tables that are now recommended in the OSHA Technical Manual. 

Moderator: Laura Kauth

Presenters:

• Dr. Kristy Deiters is a research audiologist and consultant with a doctorate in Audiology (Au.D) from Western Michigan University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing and Economics from Alma College.  Dr. Deiters' research interests range from changes in hearing over time, reliability of hearing thresholds, the dependability of middle ear muscle contractions as hearing protection, and the epidemiology of and risk factors for hearing loss.  In 2021, Dr. Deiters and her co-workers received the NIOSH Alice Hamilton Award for Excellence in Occupational Safety and Health (Epidemiology and Surveillance category) for their leadership through science and publishing their work on population-based age adjustment tables for occupational hearing conservation programs.
• Financial Disclosures: None
• Non-Financial Disclosures: None

• Dr. Gregory Flamme is the Senior Scientist and Chief Operating Officer of Stephenson and Stephenson Research and Consulting (SASRAC), which is a company founded by Dr. Mark Stephenson and Dr. Carol Stephenson. Dr. Flamme has a Ph.D. in Audiology from the University of Memphis, completed post-doctoral work in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Iowa, and was an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology at Western Michigan University prior to joining SASRAC. Dr. Flamme's research interests include the prevention, treatment, and epidemiological study of hearing impairment.

• Financial Disclosures: None
• Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Program Level: Intermediate

Learning Objectives: 

1. Attendees will critique the empirical basis for the age adjustments (corrections) included in the OSHA Hearing Conservation Amendment.
2. Attendees will recognize the disadvantages of applying age adjustments that do not represent workers today.
3. Attendees will gain insight into the utilization of NHANES data for implementing validated adjustments based on contemporary age.

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