Effectiveness verification of an educational program about hearing protection for noise-exposed workers.

PURPOSE

To verify the effectiveness of an educational action in the form of training, emphasizing the importance of hearing protection for workers exposed to occupational noise.

METHODS

The study included 78 male individuals. All participants answered a questionnaire before they were submitted to audiological evaluation. For the second application of the questionnaire, participants were randomly divided into two groups: Research Group, constituted by 44 subjects that received educational training before the second questionnaire application, and Control Group, comprising 34 individuals that answered the questionnaire before the educational training. Training was based on material with graphic images and text, in the form of conversation. The topics covered included: the importance of hearing, noise effects on health, importance of preventing hearing loss and using hearing protection, conservation and cleaning of hearing protectors, levels of noise in the workplace and noise attenuation provided by hearing protectors. The questionnaire contained 14 multiple choice questions that addressed the same themes explored in the educational training.

RESULTS

There was a significant increase of correct responses in the second application of the questionnaire, only in the Research Group, in all comparisons.

CONCLUSION

Educational action performed with workers exposed to occupational noise are effective, and the questionnaire is a stable and viable tool to evaluate the effectiveness of educational programs.