What Researchers Did
Researchers tracked hearing test results in 15 HBOT chamber workers (inside attendants) over up to 11 years and 2,446 total chamber sessions to see whether long-term pressure exposure harmed their hearing.
What They Found
No significant hearing loss was detected across any tested frequency (0.5–6 kHz) in any of the 30 ears tested. Three workers had mild middle ear barotrauma, and zero cases of decompression sickness were recorded. No consistent changes were found in any subgroup analysis by age, number of sessions, or years worked.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
This study is relevant to people who work inside hyperbaric chambers in Canada, such as nursing staff or technicians at facilities in Toronto, Calgary, or Vancouver. With proper precautions, hearing appears to be protected even after thousands of exposures. Canadian facilities can use these findings to support their occupational health monitoring programs.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
Only 15 workers from a single Turkish facility were studied, which is too small a sample to draw broad conclusions about occupational HBOT safety.