Diş Teknisyenlerinde İşitme Kaybı Riski Var mıdır? Bir Vaka Kontrol Çalışması

Amaç: Diş teknisyenleri iş yerlerinde işitme kaybına neden olabilecek gürültü ve kimyasal tehlikelere maruz kalmaktadırlar. Bu çalışmanın amacı dental laboratuvarlarda çalışan diş teknisyenlerinin mesleki işitme kaybı gelişme riskini araştırmaktır.Gereç ve Yöntemler: Çalışmaya periyodik kontrol için Ankara Meslek Hastalıkları Hastanesi’ne başvuran 105 diş teknisyeni ve 120 kontrol birey dahil edildi. Hem diş teknisyenleri grubunda hem de kontrol grubundaki deneklerin tümü erkekti. Diş teknisyenlerinin odyogramları kontrol grubu bireylerinin odyogramları ile karşılaştırıldı. Verilerin istatistiksel analizi için Mann Whitney U testi ve Spearman korelasyon analizi kullanıldı.Bulgular: Diş teknisyenlerinin her iki kulakta tüm frekanslarda işitme eşik ortalamaları kontrol grubundan istatistiksel olarak anlamlı şekilde yüksek bulundu. Diş teknisyenleri grubunda tüm frekanslarda (250 Hz ve 1000 Hz hariç) işitme eşikleri ve yaş arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir korelasyon vardı. Kontrol grubunda yalnızca 4000 Hz ve 8000 Hz frekanslarda işitme eşikleri ve yaş arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı korelasyon vardı. Diş teknisyenleri grubunda 2, 4 ve 8 kHz frekanslarında maruz kalma süresi ile işitme eşikleri arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı korelasyon olduğu saptandı.Sonuç: Bu çalışmanın bulguları işitme kaybının diş teknisyenleri için ciddi bir sağlık sorunu olduğunu göstermektedir. Diş teknisyenleri iş yerlerinde işitme kaybı için risk oluşturabilecek gürültü ve kimyasal tehlikelere maruz kalmaktadırlar. Diş teknisyenleri işitme kaybı açısından çalışma sırasında mutlaka koruyucu önlemler almalıdırlar.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

İşitme kaybı, gürültü, diş teknisyeni, odyometri

Is there a Risk of Hearing Loss in Dental Technicians? A Case Control Study

Aim: Dental technicians are exposed to noise and chemical hazards that may lead to hearing loss in workplace. The aim of this study is to investigate the hearing loss risk of dental technicians working in dental laboratories.Material and Methods: A hundred and five dental laboratory technicians who applied to Ankara Occupational Diseases Hospital for periodic check and 120 control subjects were included in the study. All of the subjects in both the dental technician and control groups were male. Audiograms of dental laboratory technicians was compared with audiograms of control subjects. Mann Whitney-U test and Spearman correlation analysis were used for statistical analysis of data.Results: The hearing threshold values of the dental technicians at all frequency in both ears were found to be significantly higher than the control group. There were statistically significant correlation between age and hearing thresholds at all frequencies (except at 250 Hz and 1000 Hz) in dental technician group. There were statistically significant correlation between age and hearing thresholds at only 4000 Hz and 8000 Hz in control group. It was found that there were statistically significant correlations between exposure time and hearing thresholds at 2, 4 and 8 kHz frequencies in dental technician group.Conclusion: Results of this study indicate that hearing loss is a serious occupational health problem in dental technicians. Dental technicians are exposed to noise and chemical hazards that may constitute a risk for hearing loss. Dental technicians must take preventive measures for hearing loss during working.

Keywords:

Hearing loss, noise, dental technician, audiometry,

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