Prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among small and medium enterprise workers in Selangor, Malaysia

Factories and Machinery (Noise Exposure) Regulation 1989 has always demanded employer to protect workers from noise exposure ≥85 dB. However, noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) has been the highest notifiable occupational health issue among Malaysian workers in 2014. A cross-sectional study aimed to...

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Main Authors:	Sam, W.Y., Anita A.R., Hayati K.S., Haslinda A., Lim, C.S.
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2017
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10679/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10679/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10679/1/11%20Sam%20W.Y%20.pdf

id	ukm-10679
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-106792017-09-20T09:08:42Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10679/ Prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among small and medium enterprise workers in Selangor, Malaysia Sam, W.Y. Anita A.R., Hayati K.S., Haslinda A., Lim, C.S. Factories and Machinery (Noise Exposure) Regulation 1989 has always demanded employer to protect workers from noise exposure ≥85 dB. However, noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) has been the highest notifiable occupational health issue among Malaysian workers in 2014. A cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the prevalence of hearing loss (HL) among 146 adult manufacturing workers with noise exposure ≥85 dB was carried out in Selangor. Pure tone audiometry and a validated questionnaire were used to determine the hearing status and information of the respondents. The results showed that the prevalence of HL was 73.3% and the prevalence of hearing impairment was 23.3%. Male workers (63.0%) had higher prevalence of HL than female workers (36.4%). Mean hearing threshold levels of HL respondents were significantly higher than respondents with normal hearing. It was discovered that among workers with employment of more than 10 years, > 80% of them suffered from HL. Association between employment years and hearing condition (normal, non-bilateral and bilateral HL) was statistically significant, χ(4)= 10.51, p=0.033, with Kendall tau-c correlation showing positive and weak (p=0.18) association. Highest HL cases were found at 4 and 6 kHz. World Health Organisation and Factories and Machinery (Noise Exposure) Regulation 1989 classification on degree of hearing impairment showed slight to moderate hearing impairment among the respondents and both standards did not differ much (8.9% vs 6.9%, respectively). As a conclusion, prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among manufacturing workers were high. Age, male sex, monthly salary and employment years were possible influencing factors. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2017-02 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10679/1/11%20Sam%20W.Y%20.pdf Sam, W.Y. and Anita A.R., and Hayati K.S., and Haslinda A., and Lim, C.S. (2017) Prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among small and medium enterprise workers in Selangor, Malaysia. Sains Malaysiana, 46 (2). pp. 267-274. ISSN 0126-6039 http://www.ukm.my/jsm/english_journals/vol46num2_2017/contentsVol46num2_2017.html
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	Factories and Machinery (Noise Exposure) Regulation 1989 has always demanded employer to protect workers from noise exposure ≥85 dB. However, noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) has been the highest notifiable occupational health issue among Malaysian workers in 2014. A cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the prevalence of hearing loss (HL) among 146 adult manufacturing workers with noise exposure ≥85 dB was carried out in Selangor. Pure tone audiometry and a validated questionnaire were used to determine the hearing status and information of the respondents. The results showed that the prevalence of HL was 73.3% and the prevalence of hearing impairment was 23.3%. Male workers (63.0%) had higher prevalence of HL than female workers (36.4%). Mean hearing threshold levels of HL respondents were significantly higher than respondents with normal hearing. It was discovered that among workers with employment of more than 10 years, > 80% of them suffered from HL. Association between employment years and hearing condition (normal, non-bilateral and bilateral HL) was statistically significant, χ(4)= 10.51, p=0.033, with Kendall tau-c correlation showing positive and weak (p=0.18) association. Highest HL cases were found at 4 and 6 kHz. World Health Organisation and Factories and Machinery (Noise Exposure) Regulation 1989 classification on degree of hearing impairment showed slight to moderate hearing impairment among the respondents and both standards did not differ much (8.9% vs 6.9%, respectively). As a conclusion, prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among manufacturing workers were high. Age, male sex, monthly salary and employment years were possible influencing factors.
format	Article
author	Sam, W.Y. Anita A.R., Hayati K.S., Haslinda A., Lim, C.S.
spellingShingle	Sam, W.Y. Anita A.R., Hayati K.S., Haslinda A., Lim, C.S. Prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among small and medium enterprise workers in Selangor, Malaysia
author_facet	Sam, W.Y. Anita A.R., Hayati K.S., Haslinda A., Lim, C.S.
author_sort	Sam, W.Y.
title	Prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among small and medium enterprise workers in Selangor, Malaysia
title_short	Prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among small and medium enterprise workers in Selangor, Malaysia
title_full	Prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among small and medium enterprise workers in Selangor, Malaysia
title_fullStr	Prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among small and medium enterprise workers in Selangor, Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed	Prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among small and medium enterprise workers in Selangor, Malaysia
title_sort	prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among small and medium enterprise workers in selangor, malaysia
publisher	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate	2017
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10679/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10679/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10679/1/11%20Sam%20W.Y%20.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:58:08Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:58:08Z
_version_	1777406667709743104

Prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among small and medium enterprise workers in Selangor, Malaysia

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