Prevalence and Pattern of Noise-induced Hearing Loss in Tile and Ceramic Industry

Abstract

Noise-induced hearing loss is considered as one of the most common occupational problems. Audiometric pattern of NIHL is different in various workplaces. This study was designed to find the prevalence and pattern of hearing loss in tile and ceramic industry. This was a cross-sectional study conducted on 853 tile and ceramic workers in Yazd, Iran. Plants were selected by simple random sampling from all tile and ceramic plants in Yazd. Hearing thresholds were recorded at 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 6000, and 8000Hz. Hearing loss at each frequency was defined as hearing threshold higher than15 dB-HL. Data were analyzed by SPSS (ver. 20) using Student’s

Keywords

• Noise
• NIHL
• Tile industry
• Audiometric notch
• Hearing loss