Perte auditive chez les marins pêcheurs français : étude rétrospective sur les données de 7500 audiogrammes

High noise exposure levels have been reported among seamen. Few studies have beenconducted on hearing loss in the population of French sailors.Methods :We extracted the demographic and audiometric data in French fishermen, performed in2018 and 2019, during their regulatory visit to the seafarers' health service. We carried out aunivariate then multivariate analysis adjusted on the age, years at work and type of fishing(big and small fishing). Hearing loss was calculated by the average of the deficits atfrequencies 1,2,3 and 4 KHz.Results :Data from 7428 audiometric tests could be included. In multivariate analysis, the risk factorsfor abnormal hearing loss were age > 40 years [OR 8.8 (95% CI 7.4-10.3)], seniority of morethan 13 years in the occupation [OR 1.4 (95% CI 1.2-1.6)] and conversely a significantly lowerrisk for seafarers working in deep-sea fishing [OR 0.7 (95% CI 0.56-0.88 )] and offshorefishing [OR 0.7 (95% CI 0.6-0.8)].Conclusion :The fishing activity in France remains at risk of hearing loss and more particularly small-scalefishing for which the working conditions (versatility, noisy fishing gear, age of the boats) leadto reflection on collective prevention by improving these ships.