Relation of noise-induced hearing loss and tobacco use among workers in a food industry

Purpose to determine whether tobacco use enhances the effects of noise caused hearing. Methods 153 workers of both sexes, smokers and nonsmokers, from an food sector industry, randomly chosen from among 14 sectors of the company, whose band noise was presented a variation from 85 to 109 dB, answered a questionnaire about time exposure to noise as well as on smoking habits and submitted to audiometry. Results the hearing thresholds in the frequencies of 4000 Hz and 6000 Hz were significantly higher in the group of smokers / ex-smokers when compared to nonsmokers in both ears, these thresholds, characteristic of hearing loss induced by noise. These differences remained significant after age adjustment and exposure time. Conclusion through the obtained results it was possible to conclude a correlation between the use of tobacco and hearing loss.