Perception of noise, hearing health and quality of life of public school teachers

Purpose  To investigate perception of noise, occurrence of auditory and extra-auditory effects and teachers’ quality of life of elementary and secondary education in public schools.

Methods  This study was carried out with 57 teachers from 15 public schools, both men and women, who answered to a questionnaire prepared for this occasion, questioning about occupational profile and hearing health. They were also submitted to an abbreviated version of Quality of Life-Bref Questionnaire (WHOQOL-Bref).

Results  Among the teachers participating in this study, many of them had some auditory or extra-auditory effect. The teachers without anxiety or headache had better scores in psychological and environmental domains and in the general scores of quality of life of WHOQOL-Bref – while those without intolerance to loud sounds and tinnitus had better quality of life in the physical and social domains.

Conclusion  The teachers proved that they knew the consequences of noise exposure, but did not consider it as an occupational hazard. Among the effects investigated, the presence of tinnitus, intolerance to intense sounds, anxiety and headache were related to worse quality of life.

Noise effects; Hearing; Quality of life; Public Health; Education