Occurrence of hearing loss inducted by high pressure sound on metallurgic workers of a metalmechanic industry in Caxias do Sul-RS

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence of hearing loss inducted by high pressure sound on metallurgic workers of an industry located in Caxias do Sul - RS. Method: Realization of quantitative transversal, observational, individual and retrospective study, by analyzing aural tutoring protocols and medical register of workers that showed aural disorders during a periodic aural exam, according to criterion of Brazilian regulation #19. Results: According to the results found in our study 43,4% (75) of the workers presented reduction on right ear and 49,7% (86) of the workers on left ear. In our sample, older workers (between 41 - 50 years old), and with longer work time (between 11 - 20 years) presented audiometric profi le consistent with sensorial -neural hearing loss on both, the reference exam and actual exam. We also observed that for 10,4% (18) of workers the aural reduction was classifi ed as hybrid, or caused by two or more causes. 7,5% (13) of the workers presented hearing reduction caused by unknown cause. Conclusion: The results indicated that 2,3% of the analyzed population presented hearing reduction in the audiometric profi le in the comparison between the reference and present audiometry, compatible with the PAINPSE presence. Furthermore, we verifi ed that factors as age, working years and associated illnesses are strongly related to the changes on the audiometric profi le obtained on our sampling