Abstract
Objective: To examine the association between 9/11-related exposures and self-reported hearing problems among 16,579 rescue/recovery workers in the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Registry. Methods: Using Registry Waves 1 (2003 to 2004) and 2 (2006 to 2007), we modeled the association between two metrics of 9/11-related exposures and hearing difficulties. Results: The prevalence of incident, persistent hearing problems was 4.4%. In a fully adjusted model, workers with higher environmental hazards scores were twice as likely (interquartile range OR 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.8, 2.5) to report hearing problems. Based on the same fully adjusted model, workers unable to hear in the dust cloud were 2.3 (95% CI 1.8, 3.0) times more likely to report hearing problems as compared with workers not in the dust cloud. Conclusions: We observed a consistent association between WTC-related exposures and self-reported hearing problems among rescue/recovery workers.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1229-1234 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of occupational and environmental medicine |
Volume | 59 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2017 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health