Audiological assessment in police officers with and without tinnitus complaint

Abstract

Introduction: The military service is one of the sectors in which workers are exposed to high noise levels, especially when training with firearms. Excessive exposure to this unhealthy agent is considered the most important factor for hearing loss and on set of tinnitus. Objective: to characterize and compare the audiological profile of police officers with and without tinnitus. Material and Method: this is a retrospective study comprised by 72 police officers, males, divided in two groups: group I was composed by 36 police officers who did not have tinnitus and group II by 36 police officers with tinnitus. The results were statistically analyzed. Results: The average age of group I was 38,81 years and average time in service of 16,22 years, and for group II, average age of 40,5 years and average time in service of 18,94 years. Group II showed a higher prevalence of hearing loss, but there was no statistically significant difference between groups. Regarding distortion product otoacoustic emissions, it was observed that the two groups showed no response in the frequencies of 6.000 and 8.000 Hz. Conclusion: 52.8% of police officers with tinnitus and 33,4% of police officers without tinnitus had audiograms that suggest noiseinduced hearing loss. The comparison between the groups showed that hearing thresholds average was within normal limits and absence of distortion product otoacoustic emissions at two frequencies was observed.