Compensation for hearing loss.

Monetary compensation for occupational hearing loss in the U.S.A. is governed by at least 57 different state and federal systems. Costs of compensation are difficult to estimate. Most U.S. jurisdictions use the 1979 AMA Method, based on pure-tone thresholds, to determine the amount of compensation. Clinical data and epidemiological models can provide useful estimates of the relative contributions of occupational noise exposure, aging, and other causes.