Prior research shows that work on board vessels of the Royal Norwegian Navy (RNoN) is associated with noise exposure
levels above recommended standards. Further, noise exposure has been found to impair cognitive performance in
environmental, occupational, and experimental settings, although prior research in naval and maritime settings is
sparse. The aim of this study was to evaluate cognitive performance after exposure to noise among personnel working
on board vessels in the RNoN. Altogether 87 Navy personnel (80 men, 7 women; 31 ± 9 years) from 24 RNoN vessels
were included. Noise exposure was recorded by personal noise dosimeters at a minimum of 4 h prior to testing, and
categorized into 4 groups for the analysis: 85.2 dB(A). The
participants performed a visual attention test based on the Posner cue-target paradigm. Multivariable general linear
model (GLM) analyses were performed to analyze whether noise exposure was associated with response time (RT)
when adjusting for the covariates age, alertness, workload, noise exposure in test location, sleep the night before testing,
use of hearing protection device (HPD), and percentage of errors. When adjusting for covariates, RT was significantly
increased among personnel exposed to >85.2 dB(A) and 77.1-85.2 dB(A) compared to personnel exposed to