Occupational hearing loss in teachers: a probable diagnosis.

UNLABELLED Teachers frequently report auditory symptoms and excessive noise in classrooms, but noise level measurements are not done routinely. Study model - a prospective clinical trial. AIM To study auditory symptoms and audiometric exams of teachers and classroom noise levels. MATERIAL AND METHOD Data from two groups, GI (40 teachers) and GII (40 voluntaries) were studied as follows: age, gender, working conditions, audiometric exams, and classroom noise levels. RESULTS In GI there were more females (86%), working in basic teaching (75%), in classes with 21-40 students (70%), with workloads between 26 and 40 hours per week (47%), and variable professional teaching time. Most teachers in GI reported excessive classroom noise (93.5%) and auditory symptoms (65%). In GI, 25% of teachers presented audiometric alterations (versus 10% of controls), with an acoustic notch predominating (11.25%; p<0.05). Noise levels close to 87dBA were recorded in classes at all teaching levels. CONCLUSIONS occupational hearing loss may occur in teachers. Further studies are needed to confirm this proposition.