Raghunath G, Suting L B, Maruthy S
Department of Audiology, All India Institute of Speech and Hearing Manasagangotri, Mysore, India.
Int J Occup Environ Med. 2012 Jul;3(3):136-44.
Noise can cause permanent or temporary hearing loss. High levels of noise may stimulate the vestibular system and thereby cause disturbances in the balancing mechanism.
To determine the effect of long-term exposure to occupational noise on the vestibular system.
A dizziness questionnaire was administered to 20 factory workers who were exposed to occupational noise for more than 10 years. The results were compared with 2 control groups. The control group 1 consisted of 20 people who had similar physical activity during work but were not exposed to high level of noise. Control group 2 consisted of 20 students never exposed to hazardous noise.
There was significant difference between the experimental group and the 2 control groups in terms of frequency of vestibular symptoms. However, most of the symptoms were subtle in nature. Tinnitus was significantly (p<0.05) more frequent in the experimental group than the 2 control groups.
Long-term exposure to noise may cause vestibular symptoms before clinically detectable hearing loss. The symptoms are subtle for which they are mostly neglected; the symptoms do not affect the functional ability of workers.
噪音可导致永久性或暂时性听力损失。高强度噪音可能刺激前庭系统，从而引起平衡机制紊乱。
确定长期接触职业噪音对前庭系统的影响。
对20名接触职业噪音超过10年的工厂工人进行头晕问卷调查。将结果与2个对照组进行比较。对照组1由20名工作时身体活动相似但未接触高强度噪音的人员组成。对照组2由20名从未接触过有害噪音的学生组成。
实验组与2个对照组在前庭症状出现频率方面存在显著差异。然而，大多数症状性质轻微。实验组耳鸣出现频率显著高于2个对照组（p<0.05）。
长期接触噪音可能在临床上可检测到听力损失之前就引起前庭症状。这些症状很轻微，大多被忽视；这些症状不影响工人的功能能力。
