Iran Occupational Health

  Abstract

  Background and aims: Occupational noise is a major cause of hearing loss and tinnitus. In the present study, acoustic characteristics of tinnitus were evaluated and their relation with hearing loss and nervousness was studied.

  Methods: Our study was performed on 56 male workers aged between 40 to 56 years including 28 workers with accompanied hearing loss and tinnitus and a long history of working in environments with excessive noise and 28 matched workers with normal hearing. Acoustic characteristics and the effects of tinnitus were assessed by case history, and Mini-Mental State Examination Test was performed for all subjects.

  Results: In the most cases, tinnitus had high pitch and moderate stable loudness. It was continuous with moderate to high annoying effect and often with an impact on sleep and concentration of individuals. Significant relation was observed between hearing threshold in 4000 Hz frequency and acoustical characteristics of tinnitus (P<0.002). Further, tinnitus had impact on nervousness personality of the cases (p<0.047). Statistically significant difference was observed between scores of two groups in Mini-Mental State Examination Test (p<0.025).

  Conclusion: Our study revealed the effect of hearing loss and tinnitus on general cognition, the relationship between acoustic characteristics of tinnitus and degree of hearing loss, andstrengthening of nervousness in workers exposed to occupational noise.

  Keywords: Hearing loss, tinnitus, noise, worker, nervousness, cognition