Lung Institute, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
PLoS One. 2023 Jan 6;18(1):e0279407. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279407. eCollection 2023.
Occupational noise is a common cause of hearing loss in low-income countries. Unfortunately, screening for hearing loss is rarely done due to technical and logistical challenges associated with pure tone audiometry. Wulira app is a valid and potentially cost-effective alternative to pure tone audiometry in screening for occupational hearing loss. We aimed to determine the prevalence of occupational hearing loss among workers in a metal industry company in Kampala district.
We recruited 354 participants conveniently from a steel and iron manufacturing industry in Kampala. All eligible participants answered a pretested and validated questionnaire and were assessed for noise induced hearing loss in a quiet office room approximately 500 meters from the heavy machinery area using the Wulira app. Descriptive statistics such as proportions were used to describe the study population while inferential statistics were used to determine associations.
Of the 354 participants sampled, 333 (94.1%) were male, and the median age was 27, IQR (25-30). Regarding the risk factors of hearing loss, fourteen (3.9%) had history of smoking and more than half (65.5%) had worked in the industry for more than 2 years. The overall prevalence of hearing loss among industrial workers was 11.3% (40/354). 16.2% and 9% had mild hearing loss in the right and left ear respectively. Bilateral audiometric notch was present where fourteen (4%) of the participants had notch in their right ear while seven (2%) had notch in their left ear. Residing outside Kampala district was associated with hearing loss (OR, 95% CI, 0.213 (0.063-0.725), p = 0.013).
One in 10 workers in a metal manufacturing industry in Kampala had occupational hearing loss. Industrial workers residing outside Kampala were likely to develop hearing loss. Periodic screening should be done for early detection and intervention to prevent progression of hearing loss in this population.
职业性噪声是低收入国家听力损失的一个常见原因。不幸的是，由于纯音测听相关的技术和后勤挑战，听力损失筛查很少进行。Wulira 应用程序是筛查职业性听力损失的一种有效且具有潜在成本效益的纯音测听替代方法。我们旨在确定坎帕拉区一家金属行业公司工人的职业性听力损失患病率。
我们方便地从坎帕拉的一家钢铁制造行业招募了 354 名参与者。所有符合条件的参与者都回答了一个预先测试和验证的问卷，并在距离重型机械区域约 500 米的安静办公室房间中使用 Wulira 应用程序评估噪声引起的听力损失。使用比例等描述性统计数据描述研究人群，而使用推断统计数据确定关联。
在抽样的 354 名参与者中，333 名（94.1%）为男性，中位年龄为 27 岁，IQR（25-30）。关于听力损失的危险因素，14 名（3.9%）有吸烟史，超过一半（65.5%）在该行业工作超过 2 年。工业工人的总体听力损失患病率为 11.3%（40/354）。右耳和左耳分别有 16.2%和 9%的人患有轻度听力损失。双耳听力图切迹，14 名（4%）参与者右耳有切迹，7 名（2%）参与者左耳有切迹。居住在坎帕拉区以外与听力损失相关（OR，95%CI，0.213（0.063-0.725），p=0.013）。
坎帕拉一家金属制造行业的 10 名工人中就有 1 名患有职业性听力损失。居住在坎帕拉以外的工业工人可能会出现听力损失。应定期进行筛查，以便早期发现和干预，防止该人群听力损失的进展。
