Hearing loss and impairment assessment among workers exposed to excessive noise in a paper plant industry
Keywords:
Hearing Loss, Hearing Impairment, Audiometric test, Paper IndustryAbstract
Noise is a problem encountered in industries worldwide and directly affects hearing. Hearing loss creates a communication barrier, causes errors in work, and affects daily life. This analytic research aimed to study the prevalence of hearing loss, the prevalence of hearing impairment, and the factors associated with hearing loss among 186 workers in the paper plant industry. The audiometry records available for the period of 2015-2022 were analyzed using frequency, percentage, means, S.D., Independent pair ttest and Chi- square test. The statistical significance was set at P<0. 05. The results revealed that the mean noise level in working environment was 87.15 dBA. Prevalence of hearing loss was 36. 0% with the means of hearing threshold levels in one or both ears were more than 40 dB at 4000-6000 Hertz. Prevalence of hearing impairment was 79.0%. Among the workers with hearing impairment, 67.8% had slight to moderate hearing impairment at better ears and 87. 4% at worse ears. The factors associated with hearing loss were age (p-value=0.010) and year of works (p-value=0.009). Since hearing loss is preventable, continuous management to reduce noise in the working environment, together with managing and encouraging employees' awareness of self- protection, must be implemented.
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