Objectives:To analyze the habits and behavior of adolescents exposed to amplified music with headphones and its implications on their hearing health. Methods: One hundred thirty-one high school students, aged 15 to 18 years were given a questionnaire containing closed questions regarding their habits and behavior related to personal stereos use. It is a descriptive cross-sectional study and used the Chi-square test. Results: It was shown that 79% of young people make use of portable music devices, 61.83% have a habit of using them often, 34.35% have long periods of exposure, and 37.40% use them at high volume. In terms of symptoms, present were: difficulty concentrating 63.36%; the need to ask people to repeat what was said 64.12%; the need to increase the TV volume 43.51%; tinnitus 38.93%, excitability 38.93%; and 36.64% of teens say they are somewhat worried about losing their hearing through the use of personal stereos. For the preventive aspects, 90.84% believe that noise is part of society, 80.92% find it important to reduce noise pollution, 51.91% would like to know the influence of the noise/pollution, but 74.81% would not like to participate in projects with questions about hearing health. Conclusion: The youths in this study are making indiscriminate use of personal stereos with headphones, within a population at risk for hearing loss considering its habits. Hearing Health Promotion Programs are recommended for this population.

RESUMO Dentre os fatores que influenciam o aparecimento de alterações auditivas pode-se citar o tabagismo, já que estudos revelam que o uso do tabaco pode causar um efeito ototóxico na audição. O objetivo do presente estudo foi analisar as produções científicas sobre o efeito do cigarro no sistema auditivo. A metodologia constou de levantamento dos periódicos indexados nas bases de dados, e foram incluídos na revisão de literatura os artigos científicos nacionais e internacionais, publicados em língua portuguesa ou inglesa, entre os anos de 2009 a 2016. Posteriormente a seleção e análise dos artigos na íntegra, foram classificados de acordo com a sua natureza, caracterizando-os em cinco categorias: base de dados, título do artigo científico, autor, ano e país da publicação. Em seguida, foram analisados os critérios utilizados pelos autores dos respectivos artigos, levando em consideração a amostra populacional, a faixa etária e o sexo. Por fim, foram feitas as análises dos exames auditivos utilizados em fumantes e os critérios de exclusão de cada estudo. Assim, por meio dos estudos publicados conclui-se que o uso do tabaco influencia no aparecimento de perda auditiva, prejudicando principalmente os limiares auditivos das altas frequências e inclusive a transmissão neural da informação auditiva.

Em ambientes ocupacionais, que podem gerar ruídos elevados, é recomendado o uso de equipamentos de proteção individuais (EPIs), além de medidas para diminuição do nível de ruídos, a fim de proteger a audição dos trabalhadores expostos. Em restaurantes e cozinhas industriais observa-se um nível de ruído bastante intenso, porém é escasso o número de locais onde há, efetivamente, a utilização de equipamentos para a proteção da audição dos funcionários. Este estudo teve por objetivo mensurar os níveis do ruído ambiental produzidos em um restaurante localizado num município do interior do Mato Grosso do Sul. Os níveis de ruído foram medidos durante seis dias, em dois horários, com um decibelímetro digital Minipa, em quatro pontos no interior do local e um no exterior. A partir das medidas coletadas e analisadas, observouse que o nível de ruído médio no salão do restaurante foi de 98,9 dB(A), na cozinha 103,9 dB(A) e no exterior de 105,4 dB(A). Pode-se observar, ainda, que no horário de almoço o nível de ruído foi maior que no horário do jantar, em todos os locais. Assim, pode-se concluir que o restaurante estudado é candidato à implementação de um Programa de Conservação Auditiva, visto haver elevados níveis de pressão sonora em todos os ambientes mensurados. Palavras-chave: ruído ocupacional, audição, perda auditiva.

ABSTRACT The Purpose of this case report is to present four cases of tobacco growers with hearing loss due to occupational exposure to pesticides. A qualitative case study comprising three cases of sensorineural hearing loss with causal nexus (Cases 1, 2 and 4), and one (Case 3) of sensorineural hearing loss compatible with ototoxicity by pesticides, with causal nexus mainly based on minor neuropsychiatric disorders. The sample was composed of rural workers with health problems, in working age, having started working early in life, exposed to various pesticides, including organophosphates. The auditory and neurovegetative symptoms reported were noise discomfort (n = 2), speech perception difficulty (n = 3), dizziness (n = 2), and imbalance (n = 2). The pure-tone audiometry revealed a sensorineural hearing loss in one or more high frequencies, and one of the cases presented alteration in the brainstem auditory evoked potentials. There is evidence, in this study, of an association between hearing loss and work in tobacco growers exposed to pesticides, with peripheral auditory damage in four cases, and central damage in one of them. Thus, the need for a complete audiological evaluation of pesticide-exposed populations is highlighted.

This study aimed to assess the central auditory functions of endemic disease control agents. This cross-sectional cohort study comprised two groups: the exposed group, with 38 male endemic disease control agents with simultaneous occupational noise and pesticide exposure; and the control group, with 18 age- and sex-matched workers without occupational noise and/or pesticide exposure. All participants underwent pure-tone audiometry, brainstem auditory evoked potentials, dichotic digits test, and transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions suppression effect. There was a significant inter-group difference in waves III and V absolute latencies, and interpeak I–III and I–V latencies bilaterally, with worse results found in the exposed group. Abnormal dichotic digits test results occurred more often in the exposed group, with a significant association between pesticide- and noise-exposure and the abnormal results (p = 0.0099). The transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions with suppression effect did not yield significant inter-group differences. It was concluded that pesticide and noise exposure induce harmful effects on the central auditory functions, particularly on the brainstem and figure-ground speech-sound auditory skills.

Summary Introduction: The otoacoustic emissions test is an essential tool in the evaluation of auditory function, since it allows the early detection of cochlear damage of occupational origin. Objective: To present a review of the literature and analyze the effectiveness of the clinical application of the otoacoustic emissions test in workers exposed to noise. Methods: A bibliographical search covering a period of 10 years was performed in the Virtual Health Library including published articles in national and international journals indexed in the internationally recognized databases for the health sciences, LILACS, SCIELO, and MEDLINE, using the terms “otoacoustic emissions” and “occupational exposure.” The type of published article (national/international), the type and intensity of the stimulus most commonly used for the evoked otoacoustic emissions, the gender and age of the subjects, and the conclusions from the retrospective studies were all taken into consideration. Results and Conclusions: A total of 19 articles were analyzed, 7 national and 12 international, covering subjects from 17 to 77 years of age, mostly men. The type of stimulus most commonly used for the evoked otoacoustic emissions was the distortion method (12). Through this review, we have concluded that testing of evoked otoacoustic emissions in workers exposed to noise is an important tool in the early diagnosis of noise-induced cochlear hearing disorders.

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