Occupational hearing impairment among noise-exposed workers in printing facilities

ABSTRACT

The present field study aimed at determining the prevalence and factors affecting hearing impairment among printing workers. A cross sectional survey of 144 eligible printing facilities workers was done. Exposure categories to noise either [low vs. high risk] were assigned to studied workers according to the work nature. An interview questionnaire, workers audiometric assessment and workplace noise levels have been measured. The overall prevalence of hearing impairment was 31.3%, and among those [high risk exposure] 44.1% of workers had hearing impairment, while only 8.5% of those exposed to low level of noise had hearing impairment. Multivariate analysis revealed that occupational exposure to noise, age and smoking were the strongest predictors [ORs 7.3, 5.4, 2.8 respectively] of hearing impairment among studied workers. The observed hearing loss was located mainly at 4000 Hz and findings indicate that high risk workers are occupationally exposed to high levels of noise, and present high rates of noise-induced hearing loss [NIHL]. There is a need for interventions to reduce the risk for the development of NIHL among exposed workers