The effect of age on hearing impairment of employees in a textile factory

To assess the effect of age on hearing impairment of employees in a textile factory. This was a cross-sectional study. 385 male workers in a textile factory took part in the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire containing items on demographic status and hearing diseases. In addition, audiomentric tests were carrid out and total hearing loss and total hearing impairment for any workers were calculated. 301 (78.2%) employees were over age 40. There was a significant relationship between age and various types of jobs (χ2=7.33; P<0.001). 345 (89.6%) of employees had hearing impairment (hearing loss higher than 25 decibles) and 40 (10.4%) were healthy. Also there was a statistically significant relationship berween age and hearing loss (χ2=4.43; P<0.001); and hearing impairment (χ2=6.38; p=0.004). The highest prevalence of presbyacusis was related to the age group of 40-44 years old (59.3%). In genral hearing impairment was found to be high in this population and it was associated with type of jobs and age.