EVALUATION OF DISABILITY AND HANDICAP IN NOISE-INDUCED HEARING LOSS

Maryland. The topic of the conference was "Noise and Hearing Loss". The conference was planned to be accessible to the public as well as to a professional audience. It was organized around five questions: "What is noise-related hearing loss?"; "What sounds can damage hearing?"; "What factors, including age, determine an individual's susceptibility to noise-related hearing loss?"; "What can be done to prevent noise-related hearing loss?"; "What are the directions for future research?" The present author was asked to give a paper on the issue of "quantification of handicap " resulting from noise-related hearing loss. The press for quantification arises from the physico-biological orientation of most researchers involved in study of this occupational injury. While my own research endeavours have been affected by that orientation, th