Hearing Impairment in the Nishizin Textile Weavers

• Published in: AUDIOLOGY JAPAN Vol. 19; no. 2; pp. 110 - 115
• Main Authors: Takenouchi, Satoru, Nakanishi, Hiroko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: Japan Audiological Society 1976
• ISSN: 0303-8106; 1883-7301
• DOI: 10.4295/audiology.19.110

Exposure to a loud noise in many years in some industries may cause hearing impairment. Average noise level in the Nishizin textile workshops was 94dB(A) at weaver's ear level and peak range of its frequency was 2, 000-3, 000Hz. 105 patients with some otologic complaints who were working in the Nishizin textile workshops were statistically analyzed in the last 5 years. The patients were ranged 20-70 years old with 2-40 working years and male and female ratio was 2:3. Chief complaints were tinnitus (60%), hard of hearing (30%) and dizziness (8%), and the higher incidence was found between 40 years and 10 years of experience. Audiogram showed C5 dip type or high tone abrupt type in the most cases. The average hearing impairment over 40dB were 25%. The average hearing impairment in the workers below 20 years experience tended to become worse in proportion to the number of working years, however the proportion of hearing impairment to the working years was hardly found in the workers over 21 years experience.