Health of Men Diagnosed with Occupational Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Abstract

Introduction: Summary. Introduction: Research data on the prevalence and consequences of occupational noise exposures of industrial workers and miners are presented. Arterial hypertension is considered as an occupational disease. Scarcity of available literary sources describing health status of occupational cases of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is generally noted. Our objective was to analyze the prevalence of non-occupational diseases in cases of occupational SNHL. Materials and methods: Due to a very small number of female SNHL cases (n = 3), health assessment was conducted for male cases (n = 105; average age: 66.0 ± 1.3 years) using the prevalence rate of non-occupational diseases per 1,000 cases of occupational SNHL with an error of intensive indicator and the share of the pathology in the structure of non-occupational diseases. Results: We established that non-occupational diseases of the circulatory system prevailed in men with a diagnosis of work-related sensorineural hearing loss (32.2 % or 457.1 ± 48.6), with arterial hypertension and ischemic heart disease being the most prevalent (123.8 ± 32.1 and 101.9 ± 29.1, respectively). Musculoskeletal disorders ranked second (29.5 % or 419.1 ± 48.2) with prevailing dorsopathies (361.9 ± 46.9), and diseases of the respiratory system ranked third (13.4 % or 190.5 ± 38.3) dominated by acute infections of the upper respiratory tract (111.1 ± 30.2). Conclusion: The established high prevalence of non-occupational circulatory, musculoskeletal, and respiratory diseases in SNHL cases requires their early diagnosis by primary healthcare providers based on the results of dispensary examination and development of appropriate measures for primary and secondary prevention.