Occupational noise exposure, noise annoyance, hearing-related symptoms, and emotional exhaustion - a participatory-based intervention study in preschool and obstetrics care

Abstract

A participatory-based intervention was performed in Sweden, aimed at improving the sound environment in one preschool (n = 20) and one obstetric ward (n = 50), with two controls each (n = 28, n = 66). Measured sound levels, and surveys of noise annoyance, hearing-related symptoms and emotional exhaustion were collected before, and three and nine months after the interventions, comparing intervention and control groups over time. The results of this first implementation in a limited number of workplaces showed significantly worsening of hyperacusis, sound-induced auditory fatigue, emotional exhaustion and increased sound levels in the preschool, and worsening of noise annoyance in both intervention groups. Increased risk awareness, limited implementation support and lack of psychosocial interventions may explain the worsening in outcomes, as might the worse baseline in the intervention groups. The complexity of the demands in human-service workplaces calls for further intervention studies.

Keywords:

• Auditory fatigue
• burnout
• emotional exhaustion
• hearing loss
• hyperacusis
• intervention
• noise annoyance
• occupational intervention
• occupational noise exposure
• participatory method
• speech perception
• tinnitus

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the contribution of Mikael Ögren, PhD, and Fiona Starke, MSc, in the management of the dosimeter data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The participants of this study did not give consent for data to be shared. However, anonymised data is available upon reasonable request and providing approval from an ethical review board.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare under Grant [number2016-07193]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.