The Knowledge, Perceptions and Attitudes of Seafarers in a Shipping Company on Occupational Hearing Health

ABSTRACT

There is a scarcity of information regarding seafarers’ knowledge, perceptions and attitudes (KPAs) on occupational noise exposure and hearing health. This study aimed to determine the baseline KPAs of seafarers in a shipping company on occupational hearing health and noise exposure on board. This is a cross-sectional study, using an online questionnaire disseminated to seafarers in a shipping company. There were a total of 291 respondents, predominantly males. Only 15% of the respondents showed sufficient knowledge regarding occupational hearing health and noise exposure, but the majority know that long time noise exposure can damage hearing but can be prevented. Perceptions and attitudes were heterogeneous concerning their perceived susceptibility to hearing loss and perceived self-efficacy to protect from loud sounds. This study could provide insight into how to initiate awareness and educational modules for this population. Additional investigation will be needed to provide context and a deeper understanding of the perceptions and attitudes of the seafarers that will allow health education advocates continuity in improving their programs.

Keywords:

• Seafarer
• hearing health
• occupational hearing loss
• health education
• maritime industry

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Ms Cyrille Anne S. Panaglima for her assistance in data encoding.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14635240.2023.2201256

Data availability statement

Raw data that support the findings of the study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request. Please email [email protected] for any communication regarding raw data.