The Validity of the ‘Energy Principle’ for Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

Abstract

The energy principle for noise-induced hearing loss (Burns and Robinson) postulates that equal noise immission levels cause equal hearing losses. Three special variants of this principle (originated with Burns and Robinson) were tested by means of 270 multiple linear and nonlinear regression analyses. Out of a pool of 25 000 protocols, 649 industrial noise workers were selected who had been exposed to a constant daily noise environment. Persons with hearing damage that might be due to factors other than noise and age were excluded. The evidence from these analyses denied the energy principle in almost all cases. Theoretical considerations show that hearing losses in dB due to various causes (noise, age, gunfire, …) cannot be additive at all. Therefore, models with this kind of structure must necessarily fail. Some alternative probabilistic models are suggested

Key Words:

• Noise-induced hearing loss
• Energy principle
• Additivity of various hearing losses
• Presbyacusis
• Permanent threshold shift (PTS)
• Temporary threshold shift (PTS)