Hearing Screening in Workers Exposed to High Levels of Sound Pressure

Introduction: Hearing screening is a quick and simple procedure to test hearing. Objective: To investigate the responses of hearing screening in a group of adults exposed to noise. Methods: The sample consisted of adults, workers in noisy environments. All subjects underwent otoscopy, hearing screening, and pure tone audiometry, using a portable screening equipment (Siemens), which emits pure tones at 1,000 Hz and 3,000 Hz. To analyze the results, two criteria were adopted. According to Criterion 1, to pass the screening the individual must meet at least three of the six pure tones presented to each ear. However, Criterion 2 passes the individual who responds to at least five of the six pure tones presented. Next, all subjects were evaluated by pure tone audiometry (Audiometer Ad28, Interacoustics). Results: We evaluated 30 workers with a mean age of 23.7 ± 4.1 years. There was a predominance of males (80.0%). The mean threshold in the right ear was 9.8 ± 6.2 dB HL and 9.1 ± 3.8 dB HL in the left ear. The results of the screening, according to Criterion 1, showed that all subjects passed. However, according to the Criterion 2, only 11 right ears (36.7%) and 11 left ears (36.7%) passed the screening, with a high number of false positives. Conclusion: The hearing screening in workers was feasible, sense Criterion 1 as indicated.