Auditory effects of noise and its prevalence among sawmill workers

Noise at work could be hazardous, particularly after prolonged period of exposure. Sources of noise include generators, grinding machines, loud music at home, religious houses and clubs. The objective of this study was to find the auditory effects of noise and its effects on sawmill workers. This is a prospective, community based study involving sawmill workers in Ile-Ife. The prevalence of hearing loss was determined and the pattern of hearing loss was evaluated among the workers. Four hundred and twenty sawmill workers were recruited into the study of whom 410 were males and 10 females. The prevalence of hearing impairment was 89.7%. Ninety three of them had hearing threshold greater than 40 dB, and it was bilateral in all the cases. Tinnitus was present in 41 (9.8%) subjects. The main auditory effects of occupational noise among sawmill workers are hearing loss and tinnitus.