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Table 1 A summary of the prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss among workers in the world by year reported by occupation by country, 2009-2019

From: An overview of occupational noise-induced hearing loss among workers: epidemiology, pathogenesis, and preventive measures

Year of reported

Countries/regions

Population/exposure/sex/age

Prevalence (hearing threshold)

Reference

2009

French

Policemen (N = 887)

Mean age: 37.6 years

28% ( 30 dB)

[31]

Civil servants (N = 805)

Mean age: 41.8 years

16% ( 30 dB)

2010

Norway

General population (N = 49,948)

Mean age: 48.0 years (20-101)

10.3% ( 35 dB)

[32]

2011

Dutch

Construction/male workers (N = 24,670)

Mean age: 44.3 years

22.1% ( 40 dB)

[33]

2012

Ghana

Stone crushing workers (N = 140; male: 137, female: 3)

Mean age: 42.6 years

21.5% ( 34 dB)

[34]

2012

South Africa

Gold miners (underground noise exposure; N = 33,749)

11.2% ( 40 dB)

[35]

Gold miners (surface noise exposure; N = 7456)

14.1% ( 40 dB)

2013

Zimbabwe

Mining workers (N = 169; male = 158, female = 11)

Mean age: 34.8 years

37% ( 40 dB)

[36]

2014

Ghana

Market mill workers (N = 101)

24.8% ( 25 dB)

[37]

2015

Nepal

Carpenters/male (N = 88)

Median age: 23 years (20-31)

31% ( 50 dB)

[38]

Sawyers/male (N = 36)

Median age: 30 years (20-45)

44% ( 50 dB)

2016

USA

Mining workers (N = 7398; male: 7895, female: 3)

Median age: 38.7 years (18-75)

24% ( 40 dB)

[39]

Oil and gas extraction (N = 1072; male: 977, female: 95)

Median age: 36.0 years (16-79)

14% ( 40 dB)

2018

USA

AFFH sector (N = 17,290; male: 12,482, female: 4808)

Media age: 34.9 years (18-75)

15.0% ( 40 dB)

[40]

2018

USA

Construction workers/male (97%)/Caucasian (89%) (total N = 19,127)

Mean age = 59.2 years

58% ( 40 dB)

[41]

2019

South Thailand

Sawmill workers (N = 699; male: 335, female: 364)

Mean age: 33.5 years (± 10.2)

22.8% ( 25 dB)

[42]

2019

China

Automotive manufacturing (N = 6667; male: 6427, female: 240)

28.8% ( 30 dB)

[43]

  1. AFFH agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting; IQR interquartile range; OGE oil and gas extraction