Prevalence of hearing loss and influencing factors among workers in Wuhan, China

We aimed to estimate the prevalence of hearing loss and influencing factors among workers in automobile manufacturing industry in Wuhan, China. We conducted cross-sectional analyses of 2017 through 2019 data from survey of the key occupational diseases on 17,176 workers in automobile manufacturing industry, Wuhan, China. Hearing loss was defined as a pure tone mean of 25 dB or higher in either ear at 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz for speech frequency and at 3, 4, and 6 kHz for high frequency. Among the 17,176 workers, more than a quarter of participants had high frequency hearing loss, and 6.41% had speech frequency hearing loss. The prevalence of hearing loss was higher among participants with diabetes mellitus and current smoking, temporary tinnitus, and sudden change in hearing. Compared with the controls, age (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.08-1.09), male (OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.21-1.63), occupational noise exposure (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.08-1.30), having temporary tinnitus (OR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.08-1.33), and having sudden change in hearing (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.20-2.08) were associated with higher prevalence of high frequency hearing loss; meanwhile, age (OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.08-1.09), male (OR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.11-1.71), having family history of hearing loss (OR = 2.84, 95% CI = 1.35-5.97), and having sudden change in hearing (OR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.80-3.70) were associated with higher prevalence of speech frequency hearing loss. No additive and multiplicative interaction was found between occupational noise and these factors for hearing loss. Hearing loss directly affects 25% of workers in automobile manufacturing industry in Wuhan. Measures should be implemented for the control of occupational noise and other factors simultaneously in the workplace.

Automated summary

The study revealed that more than a quarter of workers in the automobile manufacturing industry in Wuhan suffered from high frequency hearing loss, while 6.41% experienced speech frequency hearing loss. Factors such as diabetes, smoking, temporary tinnitus, and sudden change in hearing were associated with a higher prevalence of hearing loss among workers.