Evaluation of peripheral hearing and balance function of construction workers working in noisy environment

Noise-induced hearing loss is the most common in industrial audiology. It is known that the average sound level in construction sites is above 80-85 dB. According to the booklet published by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Noise-Induced Hearing Loss is the first among the occupational diseases that construction workers can experience for a long time. This study evaluated the peripheral hearing and balance system of construction workers between the ages of 18-55 who worked in a noisy environment and worked in the construction field for at least five years. Pure tone audiometry, high frequency audiometry, speech tests, and acoustic immitansmetry were chosen as data collection tools to evaluate after a general ENT examination was performed on all individuals participating in the study at the Baskent University Ear Nose and Throat outpatient clinic. To evaluate the balance system, vHIT, VNG test batteries and Dix-Hallpike tests were applied to each participant. A total of 64 volunteers were evaluated with the participation of 34 construction workers and 30 healthy control groups. When the results of SSO, speech discrimination and high frequency tests were compared, the thresholds of hearing, speech reception and discrimination of construction workers were found to be significantly higher than the control group (p<0.05). In the balance system evaluation, only asymmetric configuration due to opt pursuit and loss of gain was observed in the study group, and saccade was observed in one person in vHIT. Dizziness was present in a few workers, overall the participants did not complain of imbalance. In line with the data obtained, it was observed that the hearing system of the workers working in the construction was affected. Although there were a few samples with loss of gain for the equilibrium system, no significant difference was found at a high rate. Even though the hearing of the personnel working in the construction is normal, it has been determined that there is a notch at 4000 Hz and hearing loss at high frequencies. Considering that the physical and psychological health of individuals working in places with high noise levels will be adversely affected, as well as their hearing and balance systems, the importance should be increased and screening standards should be regulated for early diagnosis. Therefore, we believe that more research is needed in this area.