Hearing impairment and hypertension among long distance bus drivers

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of the possible hearing affection and hypertension in long-distance bus drivers compared with the city bus drivers in Abha City. This cross sectional study involved 62 long-distance bus drivers and 46 city bus drivers. A specially designed questionnaire was administered to the drivers, addressing some of their socioeconomic backgrounds. A pure tone air conduction audiometry and blood pressure measurements were performed. The results showed that long-distance bus drivers' workload is significantly higher than that of the city drivers [total weekly hours 64.0 + 14.3 compared with 46.7 + 5.5]. Hearing impairment was significantly more in long-distance drivers in the frequencies of 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz, especially in the left ear even after age corrections. The prevalence of hypertension and mild hearing loss were also higher in long-distance drivers [19.4% vs. 4.5% and 38.7% vs. 13%, respectively]