Audiometric configuration in occupational health

Abstract

The present research was made at Serviço Social da Indústria ( SESI - CE ) on June 2002 with the objective to verify the prevalence of Occupational Noise-Induced Hearing Loss ( ONIHL ) in 50 workers who had ages ranging from 25 to 70 years old, exposed to noise levels above 85dB during 3 to 35 years of work. The data were taken from a descriptive, tranverse and quantitative research in which 100 ears ( 50 audiometries ), affected by bilateral symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss at different degrees, were analyzed based on the following criteria: Clinic, INSS, Merluzzi and Ferreira Júnior. The results were as follows: 100% of the sample have shown ONIHL according to the Clinic criterion, none of them has shown ONIHL according to INSS, since the latter criterion does not take into account people who have hearing loss only in high frequencies. According to Merluzzi, it was observed a major incidence of ONIHL in the fifty right-ears (54% ) compared to the fifty left-ears (48% ), whereas there was no difference between the two set of ears (56% each ) according to Ferreira Júnior. Due to the incompatible results presented above, it is necessary to create a standard to classify the ONIHL. Through this standard it would be able to measure the actual damage caused by the noise in employees exposed to it. Descriptors: hearing loss, noise, occupational health