A CROSS-SECTIONAL RESEARCH TO ASSESS THE HEARING LOSS INDUCED BY VARIOUS OCCUPATIONAL NOISE CONDITIONS AMONG INDUSTRIAL WORKERS

Objective: The aim of our study was to check out the hearing limit of industrial workers along with a comparison between noise-exposed as well as unexposed groups. Methodology: We carried out an observational cross-sectional research at Services Hospital, Lahore (September 2016 to October 2017). We formulate two groups for our cross-sectional study. Group “A” consist of fifty industrial workers who work in consistent huge level noise and correlate with the similar group “B”. Subjective test “Pure tone audiometry” was performed to measure hearing limits at different frequencies. Results: Hearing loss in group “A” was too common, as well as the characteristic dip of the auditory range, was noted at a frequency of 4000 Hz. Conclusion: The working staff of industries is at greater risk of developing Sensor-neural hearing loss (SNHL) with respect to the common population. These workers can comfortably be picked in the initial stages by audiometry as well as suitable securing steps advised to stop or hamper the silent development of the disease. Keywords: Hearing threshold, Sensor-neural hearing loss (SNHL), Pure tone audiometry, Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), spiral ganglion neurons (SGN)