Quality of Life and Self-Reported Symptoms in Workers Exposed to Excessive Noise

Abstract

Objective: Noise can cause physiological and psychological changes by affecting human health. This study aims to investigate the quality of life and self-report symptoms of tinnitus, hearing loss, dizziness, sleep, attention, anxiety and fatigue in workers exposed to excessive noise. Materials and Methods: The study included 111 workers working in noisy environments and 74 individuals not working in noisy environments (control group). The Short Form (SF)-36 scale was used to evaluate the participants' quality of life, and the visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to assess the self-report symptoms. Result: Self-report tinnitus, hearing loss, dizziness, sleep, attention and anxiety scores of the workers were worse than the control group (p<0.05). In addition, the physical function, physical role restriction, social functionality, pain and general health scores of the workers, which are the sub-dimensions of SF-36, were worse than the control group (p<0.05). However, there was no difference between the groups in terms of emotional role, mental health, and energy/vitality scores (p>0.05). Conclusion: Noise increases workers' self-report symptoms and reduces their quality of life. By taking more precautions against workplace noise, workers' health and working performance can be protected.

Keywords

• Workers
• hearing
• balance
• sleep
• anxiety

Aşırı Gürültüye Maruz Kalan İşçilerde Yaşam Kalitesi ve Öz-Bildirim Semptomları

Öz

Amaç: Gürültü, insan sağlığını etkileyerek fizyolojik ve psikolojik değişikliklere neden olabilir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, gürültülü ortamlarda çalışan işçilerde yaşam kalitesinı ve öz bildirim kulak çınlaması, işitme kaybı, dizziness, uyku, dikkat, kaygı ve yorgunluk semptomlarını araştırmaktır. Materyal ve Metot: Çalışmaya, gürültülü ortamlarda çalışan 111 işçi ve gürültülü ortamlarda çalışmayan 74 birey dahil edildi (kontrol grubu). Katılımcıların yaşam kalitelerini değerlendirmek için Kısa Form (KF)-36 ölçeği, öz-bildirim semptomlarını değerlendirmek için görsel analog ölçek (VAS) kullanıldı. Bulgular: İşçilerin öz bildirim kulak çınlaması, işitme kaybı, dizziness, uyku, dikkat ve kaygı skorları kontrol grubuna göre daha kötüydü (p<0.05). Ayrıca işçilerin KF-36 alt boyutlarından fiziksel fonksiyon, fiziksel rol kısıtlaması, sosyal işlevsellik, ağrı ve genel sağlık skorları kontrol grubuna göre daha kötüydü (p<0.05). Ancak gruplar arasında emosyonel rol, ruhsal sağlık, enerji/canlılık skorları arasında bir fark yoktu (p>0.05). Sonuç: Gürültü, işçilerin öz bildirim semptomlarını artırır ve yaşam kalitesini azaltır. İş yerinde gürültüye karşı daha fazla önlem alınması ile işçilerin sağlıkları ve çalışma performansları korunabilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• İşçiler
• işitme
• denge
• uyku
• kaygı

Kaynakça

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