An epidemiological study of lung functions and hearing acuity in Singapore firemen

This study was conducted on 506 firemen in Singapore. Interviews, pulmonary function tests and audiometry were conducted. With regard to pulmonary function, the results showed that forced vital capacity (FVC) increased up to the age of 25-30 years for both Chinese and Malays. Both FVC and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1.0) increased with standing height over the whole age range studied. The mean values of FVC and FEV1.0 were higher in Chinese. It was also found that the FEV1 of the subjects in the study showed a greater decline in rate with age than other workers studied by the authors previously. The hearing threshold of 83 fire fighters showed a prominent upward shift of 6-8 KHz at ages 20-30. This upward shift was more pronounced in the right ear. The implications of the findings are discussed and a comparison with results of other similar studies in other countries is made.