The effect of occupational exposure to noise and chemical agents on hearing abilities

Abstract

Exposure to loud noise or chemical agents may cause hearing disorders such as tinnitus and recruitment, known as an increase in the perception of loudness in addition to hearing loss. Our study aims to evaluate the hearing abilities of hairdressers exposed to noise and chemical agents in the working environment. The study included one hundred hairdressers and one hundred participants who do not work as hairdressers or are nonworkers. The participants’ demographic characteristics, working conditions, and auditory complaints were questioned, and each participant completed the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ). A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in speech perception, spatial perception, hearing quality, and general SSQ scores. Hairdressers’ SSQ scores were significantly lower in all sub-dimensions and general scale scores (p < 0.001). The auditory complaints of the hairdressers and the low SSQ scores indicate that exposure to noise and chemical agents affects the hairdressers’ hearing system.

Keywords:

• Chemical exposure
• hairdressers and hearing
• noise-induced hearing loss
• ototoxicity
• SSQ

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Kerem Toker, Associate Professor, for control of statistical analysis and manuscript. The authors report that there was no funding source for the work that resulted in the article or the preparation of the article.

Ethical approval

Bezmialem Vakıf University, Non-Interventional Ethics Committee with the decision number 2022/407 on 07/02/2023. The participants were included in the study on a voluntary basis and each participant signed a voluntary consent form.

Author contributions

Özge Gedik Toker; conception or design of the work; drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; writing manuscript and final approval of the version to be published; agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Elif Kuru; the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.