Transcript My Portland Experience - National Hearing Conservation Association

Knowledge, Attitudes, Behaviors
and Noise Exposure of Baristas
By: Alyssa Pursley, B.S.
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, Missouri
Mentor: Gaby Saunders, Ph.D.
National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research
Portland, Oregon
2
2
Disclosures
• This study was supported by a five-year T-35 Predoctoral
Short-term Training Grant (DC008764) from the National
Institute on Deafness and other Communicative Disorders
(NIDCD).
• Participant compensation was funded by the Portland VA
Research Foundation.
Background
 Occupational noise-induced hearing loss is a known
hazard in many professions
 There are also some hospitality industry professions in
which workers may be exposed to dangerously high
levels of noise.

Worker awareness of possible hazardous noise exposure is low.
 Baristas who work in coffee shops are exposed to noise
sources from coffee grinders, espresso machines, as
well as ambient noise from music and conversation.
Background cont’d
 There are no published data on typical levels in coffee
shops, but sound levels in restaurants range from 65
dBA to 90 dBA across 8 studies (Berger et al., 2013).
 NoiseNavigatorTM database specifies that household
coffee grinders range from 80-95 dBA.
 These data suggest that baristas may be exposed to
potentially damaging noise levels during their work day.
Objectives
1. To examine the daily sound pressure levels to which
baristas working in coffee shops in the Portland metro
area were exposed
2. To measure knowledge, attitudes and behaviors
regarding hearing, noise, use of hearing protection, and
perceived ambient noise levels in the work environment
Participants
All participants were recruited from local independently
owned coffee shops throughout the Portland metro area.

Participants: 15 baristas from 6 cafes

Gender: 11 females, 4 males

Age: 19 - 36 years old (mean: 26.3, SD: 4.6)

Duration working as a barista: .5 – 9.5 years (mean
= 5.7, SD = 2.9)
Participants cont’d
n=4
n=12
n=15
n=10
n=15
Procedures
1. Knowledge, Attitudes and
Behaviors (KAB) Questionnaire
(Saunders et al., 2013)
KAB – Knowledge
(n=16)
Auditory
System
Noise-induced
hearing loss
• “Sounds that
are too loud
can damage
the ear canal.”
• “Sounds
measuring 70
decibels can
damage human
hearing.”
Hearing
Conservation
• “Hearing
protection isn’t
as useful for
people with
hearing loss.”
Participants rated there agreement on a 5 point scale:
KAB – Attitudes
(n=22)
 Attitudes toward hearing, hearing loss, and hearing
conservation using six Health Belief Model constructs
Susceptibility
• risk of acquiring a condition
• “Hearing loss from noise isn't such a big deal.”
Severity
• seriousness of the consequences of a condition if it
is acquired
• “Good hearing is needed for good communication.”
Benefits
• positive consequences of adopting a health
behavior
• “Spending time learning about hearing loss and
protecting my hearing would be valuable to me.”
Saunders et. al, 2013
KAB - Attitudes
Barriers
Self-efficacy
Cues to action
• influences that discourage adoption of a health
behavior
• “Earplugs are difficult to put in my ears.”
• his/her ability to successfully adopt a health behavior
• “It's difficult for me to protect my hearing even when I
know it's too loud.”
• External influences that promote a health behavior
(e.g. media, healthcare provider).
• “I know where to go to buy hearing protection.”
Participants rated there agreement on a 5 point scale:
Saunders et. al, 2013
KAB – Behaviors
(n=10)
 Behaviors associated with participation in noisy
activities and the use of hearing protection
How often do
you go to
concerts/musical
events?
Never
A few times a year
A few times a month
A few times a week
Never = Move on to
next question
Any other response
= Move to follow-up
questions
On average,
what level is the
music at these
events?
Soft
Moderate
Moderately Loud
Very Loud
Next follow-up
question
What types of
musical events
do you typically
attend?
Rock/Pop
Heavy Metal/Punk
Jazz/Blues
Folk/Country
Hip Hop/Rap
Classical/Opera
Next follow-up
question
KAB - Behaviors
Do you use
hearing
protection at
concerts?
Yes – Why
No – Why
Sometimes – Why
yes and why no
Next follow-up
question
After attending
concerts, how often
do you have ear
pain or “ringing”
sounds in your
ears?
Always
Often
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
Next question
Procedures
2. Adaptation of the TOPF Sound
Disturbance Survey (Topf, 1985)
TOPF
(n=13)
TOPF
(n=24)
Procedures
3. Structured interview
Structured interview
(n=10)

How long have you been working as a barista?

Typically, how many baristas are working at one time?

Do the sounds in the café affect your ability to work?


If yes, then why?
Has your manager or have your coworkers ever talked to you
about the sounds in the café?
Procedures cont’d
Eight of the 15 participants completed personal
dosimetry measurements.
 Each participant wore a Etymotic Research ER-200D
personal noise dosimeter for the duration of three
different work shifts.
 Each participant was instructed on how to wear the
dosimeter.
 Shifts occurred Monday through Friday and were, at
minimum, 4 hours in length.
Dosimeter characteristics
 Assessed personal noise exposure levels using
NIOSH criteria
 Obtained Leq and dose measurements:

Leq is the average sound level over the period of measurement
Dose




Criterion level: 85 dB
Threshold level: 65 dB
Exchange rate: 3 dB
 A-weighting
 Slow response to capture the sound levels
Niquette, P. A.
Results
Personal Dosimetry Measurements
Results – Personal Dosimetry Measurements
Daily Dose
100
90
Café A
Dose (%)
80
70
60
50
Café B
Café C
40
30
20
10
0
1
8
2
3
4
5
6
7
Participant

Noise dose ranged from 4% to 74% across participants.
Results – Personal Dosimetry Measurements
Average Leq per shift
84
Café A
82
Leq in dBA
80
Café B
78
Café C
76
74
72
70
68
66
1
8
2
3
4
5
6
7
Participant

Leq ranged between 71 dBA and 83 dBA across participants.
Dose (%)
Results – Personal Dosimetry Measurements
Shift Length (hours)


Shift length: 4 hrs 28 min to 8 hrs 46 min
Pearson correlation:(r=0.0006, p<0.001)
Results
Questionnaires
Results – KAB Questionnaire (Knowledge Scores)
 Range = 12.5% to 75%
 Average score = 40%
(SD = 17.8)
Saunders et. al
(2013) average
score = 57.6%
ranging from
15.6% to 93.8%
Results – KAB Questionnaire (Attitude Scores)
Results – KAB Questionnaire (Attitude Scores)
Barista Study:
Saunders et. al (2013) Study:
Results – KAB Questionnaire (Behaviors)
Results – KAB (Behaviors)
Tinnitus:
 100% of participants reported experiencing tinnitus
after at least one of the 8 activities assessed.
 Every participant noted they attended a concert or
musical event at least a few times a year, and 14 out
of the 15 total participants reported tinnitus after a
concert/musical event.
 87% of participants stated they worked in noise a
few times a week and 13% of those individuals
reported tinnitus after a work shift.
Results – Topf Survey
Negative impacts on the barista :
Results – Topf Survey
Positive impacts on the barista:
Results – Topf Survey
Impacts on other people:
Results – Topf Survey
Loudest Sounds
Coffee grinder
Espresso machine
Most
bothersome
sounds
Coffee grinder
Espresso machine
Most helpful
sounds
Conversation
between staff
Background music
Key Points
1.
Baristas are not exposed to hazardous sound levels in the
workplace, but baristas who work shifts longer than 8
hours may be exposed to potentially hazardous noise
levels.
2.
Baristas appear to have poor knowledge and this is a good
indication as to why there were low susceptibility scores.
3.
Baristas recognize the importance and value of good
hearing and seem like they would be accepting of valuable
hearing conservation practices.
 Perceived self-efficacy scores were lowest, suggesting the
sample had low confidence in their ability to acquire and use
hearing protection successfully.
Key Points
4. Baristas engage in noisy lifestyles and this should be
taken into consideration when assessing their overall
noise exposure.
 The prevalence of tinnitus after the noisy events suggests
baristas are exposed to hazardous noise levels outside of work
and their use of hearing protection is extremely low.
5. Baristas lack the pertinent education and motivation
to commit to invaluable hearing conservation
practices.
Future Directions
 Gain more data from a larger amount of participants
 Assess cafes with more sophisticated dosimeters
and/or sound level meters to better understand the
effects of impulse noise.
 Use these questionnaires in every noise exposed
population. – Hearing conservation needs to start
putting the “patient” first.
References
• Berger EH, Neitzel R, Kladden CA (2013). NoiseNavigatorTM Sound
•
•
•
•
Level Database. Available from
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=SSSS
SuH8gc7nZxtU5Yten8_xevUqed74mdTSevTSeSSSSSS-&fn=Noise%20Navigator.xlsx
Niquette, P.A. (n.d.). Noise exposure: Explanation of OSHA and NIOSH
safe-exposure limits and the importance of noise dosimetry.
Etymotic Research Incorporated. Retrieved from
http://www.etymotic.com/pdf/er_noise_exposure_whitepaper.pdf
Saunders GH, Dann SM, Griest, SE, Frederick MT. (2014). Development
and evaluation of a questionnaire to assess Knowledge, Attitudes
and Behaviors towards hearing loss prevention. International
Journal of Audiology, Jan 27 [Epub ahead of print].
Topf, M. (1985). Personal and environmental predictors of patient
disturbance due to hospital noise. J Appl Psychol 1985;70:22-8.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012). Occupational Employment
Statistics. May 2012 National Occupational Employment and
Wage Estimates United States. Available from:
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm
Special thanks to the NHCA
and all of the scholarship
foundation donors!