Threshold of kurtosis on occupational hearing loss associated with non-steady noise

Yang LI; Haiying LIU; Linjie WU; Jinzhe LI; Jiarui XIN; Hua ZOU; Xin SUN; Wei QIU; Changyan YU; Meibian ZHANG

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Threshold of kurtosis on occupational hearing loss associated with non-steady noise

VernacularTitle:峰度对非稳态噪声所致职业性听力损失的作用阈值
Author: Yang LI ¹ ; Haiying LIU ² ; Linjie WU ¹ ; Jinzhe LI ³ ; Jiarui XIN ¹ ; Hua ZOU ⁴ ; Xin SUN ¹ ; Wei QIU ⁵ ; Changyan YU ¹ ; Meibian ZHANG ¹
Author Information

1. National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China.
2. School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230032, China.
3. Occupational Health Institute, Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Beijing 100013, China.
4. Occupational Health and Radiation Protection Institute, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310051, China.
5. Occupational Health Research Center, Yangtze Delta Region Institute of Tsinghua University, Zhejiang, Jiaxing, Zhejiang 314006, China.
Publication Type:Specialcolumn:Noisekurtosisadjustmentandpreventingandcontrollingoccupationalhearingloss
Keywords: kurtosis; noise-induced hearing loss; non-steady noise; effect threshold; restricted cubic spline model
From: Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine 2025;42(7):779-785
CountryChina
Language:Chinese
Abstract: Background Kurtosis reflecting noise's temporal structure is an effective metric for evaluating noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), and its threshold is still unclear. Objective To explore the energy range of kurtosis and the threshold of NIHL induced by kurtosis in this energy rangeMethods Using cross-sectional design, 4631 noise-exposed workers in manufacturing industry were selected. The hearing loss and noise exposure data of each worker were collected. Logistic regression model was used to establish the dose-response relationship between noise exposure and hearing loss and estimate the range of energy effects. Restricted cubic spline model was utilized to analyze the dose-response relationship curves of kurtosis to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHI) and high-frequency noise-induced hearing loss (HFNIHL) under different 8 h equivalent sound levels (L_{EX,8 h}), as well as to estimate the kurtosis effect threshold. Results The logistic regression model analysis showed that the prevalence of NIHI and HFNIHL increased significantly with increase of L_{EX,8 h} for steady noise; when L_{EX,8 h} of non-steady noise was 80-100 dB(A), the risk of hearing loss increased with an increase in kurtosis (P<0.05). The restricted cubic spline model showed that when L_{EX,8 h} of non-steady noise was 0-80 dB(A) or >100 dB(A), there was no significant relationship between kurtosis and NIHI or HFNIHL. When L_{EX,8 h} was 80-100 dB(A), there was a significant nonlinear dose-response relationship between kurtosis and NIHL or HFNIHL (P <0.001), and kurtosis > 28.08 exerted effect in elevating NIHI or HFNIHL. Conclusion The effect threshold of kurtosis on NIHL is 28.08 when non-steady noise levels are in the range of 80-100 dB(A). The effect threshold of kurtosis needs further verification.