Hearing Threshold Status and Risk Estimate of Hearing Impairment among Administrative Workforce.

Background: Administrative workers working in quieter environment workplace are considered unaffected by noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).

Aim: To create a baseline data of the administrative workers so as to monitor them with prospective years of exposure with the hypothesis that workers working in the administrative jobs may not be affected by NIHL.

Settings and Design: The study was conducted among men and women administrative workers working in an office in Ahmedabad city, India. The design of the study was prospective cross-sectional study.

Materials and Methods: In all, 64 men and 33 women administrative workers were recruited. Pure tone air conduction (AC) and unmasked bone conduction (BC) audiometry of both ears was performed. Pure tone averages (PTAs) and air-bone gap (ABG) were calculated. Excess risk of hearing impairment was estimated using five model equations.

Statistical Analysis: Descriptive statistics was used for analysis. For calculation of excess risk of hearing impairment, models in online calculator were used.

Results: AC for men depicted 4 and 6 kHz notch, whereas 6 kHz for women, for both ears. Around three-fourth men and nine-tenth women recorded hearing threshold <25 dB (A) for PTA0.5-1-2-4 . ABG was <15 dB at all frequencies except 6 kHz, for both groups. Highest values of average estimated excess risk were 4.89% and 1.21% for men and women, respectively. Estimated excess risk ranged up to 1% for 50%-77% men and 82%-91% women.

Conclusion: Administrative workers are minimally risked of developing NIHL; however, with progressive age, hearing ability may deteriorate.