A study of the civil construction workers audiometric profile upon admission in the state of Bahia (Brazil) / Perfil audiométrico de exames admissionais em trabalhadores da construção civil da Bahia

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2007

RESUMO

The goal of this study was to investigate and analyze the civil construction workers audiometric profile upon admission in the State of Bahia (Brazil) from 1999 to 2005. Methods: Audiometric tests (n=5702) were carried out among male workers (age range: 18 to 72) upon admission when applying for several job positions in 43 civil construction companies. Audiograms was classified into three groups: normal, indicating noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and other causes, and were later rated as to the presence/absence of audiometric notches. Results: Normal hearing thresholds were found in 3949 (69.3%) workers, 920 (16.2%) of them showed audiograms indicating NIHL, and other alterations were found in 833 (14.6%) subjects. Although 980 (17.2%) workers did not report noise exposure, 4722 (82.8%) subjects reported at least one year of such exposure. The use of hearing protection devices was reported by 2483 (43.5%) subjects in contrast with 3219 (56.0%) workers who did not use it. Workers exposed to chemicals totaled 1084 (19%) against 4618 (81%) nonexposed ones. Audiometric notches were found in 1684 (29.5%) subjects in the normal group, 919 (16.1%) subjects in the NIHL group and 774 (13.4%) subjects in the other causes group. Conclusions: The prevalence of audiometric alterations was found to be 30.7%, among which 16.1% indicated NIHL and 14.6% were rated as other causes. Increased age, more than 5 years of noise exposure, lack of use of hearing protection devices and exposure to chemicals were associated to the hearing losses found in the sample. The prevalence of audiometric notches in this population was 59.3%, of which 30.9% were unilateral and 28.4% were bilateral. Besides being associated to age, exposure time and job position, notches were more prevalent in the NIHL group and in the other causes group

ASSUNTO(S)

civil construction workers trabalhadores construção civil uso de protetor auricular perda auditiva provocada por ruido ruido ocupacional audiometric notch saúde do trabalhador workers health exposição a produtos químicos perda auditiva fonoaudiologia construcao civil -- medidas de seguranca hearing loss chemicals exposure audiometria exposição ao ruído noise exposure hearing protector use entalhe audiométrico

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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