Occupational risks faced by speech-pathologists and audiologists in a hospital setting

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the occupational risks to which speech therapists are exposed in a hospital unit. It is a transversal research realized at a school hospital integrant of the public net of the center west region in Brazil. The population consisted of four speech therapists acting on different places at the hospital: on the realization of examinations in ambulatories, clinics, maternity and adult and neonatal ITUs. The therapists interviewed work at the unit for more than seven years and have specialized professional formation. The instrument used for the data collection was the questionnaire that investigated the occurance of accidents and occupational diseases among participants of the study. It was detected the existence of chemical risks such as with radioactivity, physical risks such as repetitive strain injury (RSI), biological risks as the contact with corporeal fluids, beyond the risks with occupational violence. All the participants of the study (100%) are concerned with the risks of occupational accidents, since the results showed that all the interviewed had already suffered some kind of occupational accident. The infections contagions illness and RSI were considered the disease with the higher probability of occurance among the participants. It was concluded that as well as other professionals, the speech therapists are exposed to risks with the prevalence of RSI and of occupational violence. This study confirms the necessity of the implantation of preventive measures such as the adoption of exercises inserted between working hours and of studies on the direction of searching alternatives capable of reducing aggressions suffered by professionals.