Risk of Acoustic Trauma Associated With Artillery Weapon Gunners

The military is a high-risk environment for occupational deafness. Acoustic trauma is a sensorineural hearing disorder caused by impulsive loud noise with a frequency range of 2-6 kHz. This study aims to assess the occurrence of acoustic trauma on a Howitzer 105 gunner. Indonesian military currently doesn’t have hearing conservation program. The work environment of the armed forces places military personnels to be at risk of suffering occupational hearing loss caused by the use of main equipments for system of defense as one of the skill requirements.

The research used a prospective period method from July 7 to July 10, 2014, with the focus being new recruit soldiers in the Indonesian Army's Artillery Academy. The subjects were divided into two groups: Exposed (17 gunners) and non-exposed (stae the number of subjects). Subjects' identities, medical histories, and symptoms after firing were all reported on a questionnaire. The Integrating Sound Level Meter and Real Time Analyzer were used to measure the sound intensity and frequency. Pure tone audiometry was used to assess hearing function. Fisher Exact test was used to determine the value of the data (p<0.05) The findings of this study revealed that the sound pressure level of a Howitzer 105 artillery weapon totaled 148.6 dBA with a frequency that decayed to 60 dBA for 2 seconds, while the impulsive sound intensity received at a distance of one metre exceeded the 1998th National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) criteria. Acoustic trauma on the gunner without ear protection is significant at 23.5% (p0.05), with symptoms of tinnitus and temporary hearing disorders (1 day) being only 6% and not significant (p>0.05).