Hearing status among cabin crew in a Swedish commercial airline company

Lindgren, Torsten; Wieslander, Gunilla; Nordquist, Tobias; Dammström, Bo-Göran; Norbäck, Dan

doi:10.1007/s00420-008-0372-7

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…34 Second, recent evidence from population studies indicates that chronic exposure to occupational noise may increase the risk for cardiac disease [41]. Airplane noise has been measured at an average of 80 to 85 decibels [42], with higher sound pressure levels during engine start and takeoff, and some researchers have noted an increased risk of hearing loss in cabin crew with exposures between 71 and 81 decibels [43]. In our study, the reported diagnosis of hearing loss in flight attendants showed a exposure-response relationship with tenure after controlling for age and other factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The self-reported health of U.S. flight attendants compared to the general population

et al. 2014

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BackgroundFew studies have examined the broad health effects of occupational exposures in flight attendants apart from disease-specific morbidity and mortality studies. We describe the health status of flight attendants and compare it to the U.S. population. In addition, we explore whether the prevalence of major health conditions in flight attendants is associated with length of exposure to the aircraft environment using job tenure as a proxy.MethodsWe surveyed flight attendants from two domestic U.S. airlines in 2007 and compared the prevalence of their health conditions to contemporaneous cohorts in the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES), 2005-2006 and 2007-2008. We weighted the prevalence of flight attendant conditions to match the age distribution in the NHANES and compared the two populations stratified by gender using the Standardized Prevalence Ratio (SPR). For leading health conditions in flight attendants, we analyzed the association between job tenure and health outcomes in logistic regression models.ResultsCompared to the NHANES population (n =5,713), flight attendants (n = 4,011) had about a 3-fold increase in the age-adjusted prevalence of chronic bronchitis despite considerably lower levels of smoking. In addition, the prevalence of cardiac disease in female flight attendants was 3.5 times greater than the general population while their prevalence of hypertension and being overweight was significantly lower. Flight attendants reported 2 to 5.7 times more sleep disorders, depression, and fatigue, than the general population. Female flight attendants reported 34% more reproductive cancers. Health conditions that increased with longer job tenure as a flight attendant were chronic bronchitis, heart disease in females, skin cancer, hearing loss, depression and anxiety, even after adjusting for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), education, and smoking.ConclusionsThis study found higher rates of specific diseases in flight attendants than the general population. Longer tenure appears to explain some of the higher disease prevalence. Conclusions are limited by the cross-sectional design and recall bias. Further study is needed to determine the source of risk and to elucidate specific exposure-disease relationships over time.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The self-reported health of U.S. flight attendants compared to the general population

et al. 2014

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“…Medical retirements ( 91 ) indicated a high incidence of permanent disability due to ENT disorders, musculoskeletal, psychiatric disorders, heart disease, and cancer. Noise-induced hearing loss, which historically impacted fl ight attendants working on older, propeller-driven aircraft, is apparently much less of an occupational health and safety issue currently ( 70 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Occupational Health and Safety of Flight Attendants

Griffiths¹,

Powell²

2012

aviat space environ med

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In order to perform safety-critical roles in emergency situations, flight attendants should meet minimum health standards and not be impaired by factors such as fatigue. In addition, the unique occupational and environmental characteristics of flight attendant employment may have consequential occupational health and safety implications, including radiation exposure, cancer, mental ill-health, musculoskeletal injury, reproductive disorders, and symptoms from cabin air contamination. The respective roles of governments and employers in managing these are controversial. A structured literature review was undertaken to identify key themes for promoting a future agenda for flight attendant health and safety. Recommendations include breast cancer health promotion, implementation of Fatigue Risk Management Systems, standardization of data collection on radiation exposure and health outcomes, and more coordinated approaches to occupational health and safety risk management. Research is ongoing into cabin air contamination incidents, cancer, and fatigue as health and safety concerns. Concerns are raised that statutory medical certification for flight attendants will not benefit either flight safety or occupational health.

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“…(9) Few studies that use dosimetry measurements to estimate the noise exposure associated with daily activities conclude that one of the primary sources of non-occupational noise exposure is mass transit. (10)(11)(12)(13) In fact, noise exposure can reach 79.9 dBA in a bus, (14) 80.8 dBA in an aircraft, (15) 73.7 dBA in a commuter train, (16) and 79.3 dBA in a subway, (16) Other studies (17)(18)(19)(20) on subway noise levels can be found, but the lack of a common environment and measurement method prevents a proper comparison.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Assessment of Noise Exposure During Commuting in the Madrid Subway

Tabacchi

Pavón

Ausejo

et al. 2011

Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene

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Because noise-induced hearing impairment is the result not only of occupational noise exposure but also of total daily noise exposure, it is important to take the non-occupational exposure of individuals (during commuting to and from their jobs, at home, and during recreational activities) into account. Mass transit is one of the main contributors to non-occupational noise exposure. We developed a new methodology to estimate a representative commuting noise exposure. The methodology was put into practice for the Madrid subway because of all Spanish subway systems it covers the highest percentage of worker journeys (22.6%). The results of the application highlight that, for Madrid subway passengers, noise exposure level normalized to a nominal 8 hr (L(Ex,8h-cj) ) depends strongly on the type of train, the presence of squealing noise, and the public address audio system, ranging from 68.6 dBA to 72.8 dBA. These values play an important role in a more complete evaluation of a relationship between noise dose and worker health response.

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Hearing status among cabin crew in a Swedish commercial airline company

Abstract: Cabin crew are exposed to equivalent noise levels below the current Swedish occupational standard, and have normal age-matched hearing threshold levels.

Cited by 16 publications

References 9 publications

The self-reported health of U.S. flight attendants compared to the general population

The self-reported health of U.S. flight attendants compared to the general population

The Occupational Health and Safety of Flight Attendants

Assessment of Noise Exposure During Commuting in the Madrid Subway

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