Authors: Sultan Salman Aldhafeeri

Abstract

Background: Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a prevalent occupational disease and a serious health issue. NIHL adversely affects the quality of life (QOL) and eventually leads to increasing social isolation and depression. The burden of NIHL varies widely across occupations and regions. There is a lack of studies focusing on NIHL in healthcare settings and the prevention of NIHL in healthcare and industrial settings. Therefore, this review was established to identify the prevalence of occupational NIHL among healthcare and industrial workers and identify the possible preventive strategies. The literature related to the current subject was obtained through an online search process. The eligible articles were reviewed and discussed under three major titles to cover our current subject. We found that occupational NIHL is a significant issue among HCWs and industrial workers. The prevalence of occupational NIHL is widely varied based on the field of workers and the type of occupation, even in the same field of work, depending on several factors, including the duration of exposure and level of noise in the working environment, the type of instrument used in work, use of protection, and characteristics of workers. There are various protective measures that can also be used to reduce exposure to noise and reduce NIHL.

Keywords: Occupational NIHL, HCWs, industrial workers, prevention.