Equipamento de proteção individual auricular: efetividade e satisfação em trabalhadores expostos ao ruído

Abstract

This research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and satisfaction of the use of Equipment of auricular Individual Protection of the foam type in workers exposed to noise, verifying if its use without and with orientation about the adequate use provides the same seal, which is needed in the prevention of occupational hearing symptoms. The relevance of this study configures itself in the necessity of evaluating how the Equipment of auricular Individual Protection of the insertion type has been used by workers exposed to noise, since the level of protection obtained depends directly of the seal degree of the protector and its adequate use. This research was divided in two articles, the first aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Equipment of auricular Individual Protection with and without orientation about its adequate use, and the second aimed to evaluate the satisfaction of the users in the use of Equipment of auricular Individual Protection, as well as legal aspects related to the problematic of hearing loss prevention. It is a descriptive pre-experimental study, of cross-sectional, which used the quantitative method. 75 workers with exposure to occupational noise were evaluated, constituting a sample of 150 ears in the first article and 75 individuals in the second article, aiming to reach the respective specific objectives. All the workers answered the occupational anamnesis and a questionnaire about the use of auricular protector, after they were submitted to tonal audiometry. The tonal audiometry was performed in three distinctive moments: for obtaining the hearing threshold, then, using auricular protector of moldable foam type without orientation about its adequate use and, finally, with the orientation of the phonoaudiologist that evaluates. The results of this investigation indicated that the orientation of the phonoaudiologist about the placing of Equipment of auricular Individual Protection provided a seal gain statistically significant only with the rehabilitation of the device in the auditory canal. In relation to the satisfaction of the workers in the use of the Equipment of auricular Individual Protection, most of the workers (60%) use the device, not always full-time, and there is a preference for the shell type. A large number of workers evaluated presented normal hearing; however, from the auditory changes found, most of them were suggestive of hearing loss induced by the noise. The occupational audiological report was not significantly associated with the use or type of auricular protector that was used. We concluded that the comparison between the answers obtained without and with orientation, a higher effectiveness and attenuation of the auricular protector of the moldable foam type, due to the adequate orientation of the phonoaudiologist. Most of the workers evaluated in the present study seem to be satisfied and adapted with the auricular protectors that they use. Among the factors that offer more discomfort are the difficulty of communication, irritation of using the device during full-time work, easiness of contamination of the device in the work environment, as well as the necessity of frequent readjustment.