Avaliação do conforto do protetor auditivo individual numa intervenção para prevenção de perdas auditivas

Abstract

OBJETIVO: analisar o conforto do protetor auditivo individual como parte de uma intervenção para prevenção de perdas auditivas em trabalhadores expostos a elevados níveis de ruído, por meio da utilização de um questionário de avaliação de conforto. MÉTODO: realizou-se análise dos documentos da empresa, investigação do ruído e uso de protetor auditivo individual anterior, seleção do protetor auditivo individual, atividades educativas, aplicação de questionário e realização audiometrias. A população foi composta de 20 trabalhadores expostos a ruído acima de 80 dB(A). Os trabalhadores utilizaram protetores tipo inserção e concha, cada um durante 15 dias e responderam ao questionário de avaliação do conforto em duas ocasiões. RESULTADOS: dentre os participantes 85% eram homens e 15% mulheres, idade média 35 anos. O Índice de Conforto do protetor tipo inserção foi 4,6 e concha 6,1, com tempo médio de utilização de 6 horas 40 minutos. Dentre as razões negativas ao uso do equipamento destacaram-se: interferência com a comunicação (20%), diminuição da audição (10%) e não sentir necessidadede usar (10%). CONCLUSÃO: os protetores auriculares estudados tiveram seus escores cotados em níveis aceitáveis, sendo considerados ambos confortáveis. Contudo, existiu uma diferença significante no Índice de Conforto entre protetores de diferentes tipos (inserção e concha). Com isso, pôde-se concluir que, o protetor auditivo individual tipo concha foi considerado o mais confortável e melhor aceito pela população estudada.

Perception of hearing protectors by workers that participate in hearing preservation programs: a preliminary study

“…Oral communication was the second most important aspect considered by workers, with a high mean score. Difficulties in oral communication when using hearing protectors are common complaints among workers (10,22) , which are considered by many authors as one of the main reasons so that workers do not use hearing protectors (10,12) . That is probably the reason why workers considered the oral communication aspect as important in this study.…”

“…Other studies also report worker's communication difficulty when using a hearing protector, because the environment noise associated with the sound barrier produced by the hearing protector makes it difficult the perception of environmental and communicational sounds (10,12,25) . With regard to Questionnaire 1, about the importance given by workers to each aspect of the hearing protectors assessed in this study, the analysis was done per manufacturing unit and the type of hearing protector used (Table 1).…”

“…Presumably, the higher the level of worker's awareness about the importance of hearing prevention, provided by the years accumulated in the manufacturing unit HPP, the higher the importance given to the aspects of the hearing protector. Other studies indicate the importance of awareness about the hearing loss prevention, contributing thus for a better assessment and acceptance of hearing protectors by workers who are exposed to intense noise (9,12,17,(27)(28)(29) . With regard to the assessment of aspects regarding hearing protectors used by workers (Questionnaire 2), it has been seen, in general, that the best-assessed aspect was hearing protector placement (considered as the closest to judging as "easy placing," according to the questionnaire scale).…”

“…To succeed in this issue, effective awareness actions should be implemented as part of the HPP (9,10) . Correct use of the most appropriate hearing protector for each labor situation is a hard task to the team developing the HPP, because it involves aspects such as the ability to work with people, communication and motivation art, use of supervision and control, and ergonomic issues associated with the hearing protector (11,12) . Some studies show that the hearing protector attenuation may be restricted based upon the worker's emplacement (13) .…”

“…We must consider that discomfort from protector use should be minimized or excluded, whenever is possible (4) . Studies show a better use of hearing protectors after educational actions that not only share information but also aim at educating workers on the need of protecting themselves against an intense noise exposure (5,12,17) . Proposals of educational actions to workers as a part of the HPP, which stimulate a reflection about the noise impact and its effects in professional and social environments, through daring, objective, and integrative strategies that promote a space for speaking, hearing, and exchanging information and favor the awareness and adoption of more preventive attitudes regarding health (17,18) .…”