Healthcare and Social Assistance (HSA) Statistics

At a glance

  • View hearing loss trends and statistics among Healthcare and Social Assistance (HSA) workers.
  • Approximately 10% of all HSA workers have hearing difficulty.
  • About 7% of all HSA workers have tinnitus.
  • 83% of noise-exposed HSA workers report not wearing hearing protection.
Hospital hallway.

Noise exposure and hearing protection

  • About 13% of all workers in HSA have been exposed to hazardous noise.1
  • 83% of noise-exposed HSA workers report not wearing hearing protection.2

Hearing loss and tinnitus

  • Approximately 10% of all HSA workers have hearing difficulty.1
  • About 7% of all HSA workers have tinnitus.3
  • About 19% of noise-exposed tested HSA workers have a material hearing impairment.4 Hearing impairment is hearing loss that impacts day-to-day activities.
  • 11% of noise-exposed tested HSA workers have hearing impairment in both ears.5

Trends

Trends among noise-exposed tested HSA workers (1981-2010)6

  • The prevalence for HSA increased 7% over 25 years (1986-2010) as compared with a less than 1% reduction for all industries during the same time period.
  • The incidence for HSA increased 2% over 15 years (1996-2010) as compared with a 1% reduction for all industries during the same time period.
  • The adjusted risk for HSA decreased 9% over 15 years (1996-2010) as compared with a 15% reduction for all industries over the same time period. There was insufficient sample size to examine the HSA adjusted risks from 1986-1995, and this was not plotted.
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Graph showing prevalence of hearing loss by time period and industry sector, 1981-2010, for 1,816,812 workers
Adapted from Figure 1, Masterson et al. 2015
View Larger
Graph showing incidence of hearing loss by time period and industry sector, 1986-2010, for 560,320 workers
Adapted from Figure 2, Masterson et al. 2015

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Content Source:
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
  1. Kerns E, Masterson EA, Themann CL, Calvert GM. (2018). Cardiovascular conditions, hearing difficulty and occupational noise exposure within U.S. industries and occupations. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 61, 477-491.
  2. Green DR, Masterson EA, Themann CL. (2021). Prevalence of hearing protection device non-use among noise-exposed U.S. workers in 2007 and 2014. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 64(12), 1002-1017.
  3. Masterson EA, Themann CL, Luckhaupt SE, Li J. & Calvert GM. (2016). Hearing difficulty and tinnitus among U.S. workers and non-workers in 2007. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 59, 290-300.
  4. Masterson EA, Themann CL, Calvert GM. (2018). Prevalence of hearing loss among noise-exposed workers within the healthcare and social assistance sector, 2003-2012. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 60(4):350-356.
  5. Masterson EA, Bushnell PT, Themann CL, & Morata TC. (2016). Hearing impairment among noise-exposed workers — United States, 2003–2012. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 65(15), 389-394.
  6. Masterson EA, Deddens JA, Themann CL, Bertke S. & Calvert GM. (2015). Trends in worker hearing loss by industry sector, 1981-2010. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 58, 392-401.