vestibular symptoms in factory workers subjected to noise for a long period

background: noise can cause permanent or temporary hearing loss. high levels of noise may stimulate the vestibular system and thereby cause disturbances in the balancing mechanism. objective: to determine the effect of long-term exposure to occupational noise on the vestibular system. methods: a dizziness questionnaire was administered to 20 factory workers who were exposed to occupational noise for more than 10 years. the results were compared with 2 control groups. the control group 1 consisted of 20 people who had similar physical activity during work but were not exposed to high level of noise. control group 2 consisted of 20 students never exposed to hazardous noise. results: there was significant difference between the experimental group and the 2 control groups in terms of frequency of vestibular symptoms. however, most of the symptoms were subtle in nature. tinnitus was significantly (p<0.05) more frequent in the experimental group than the 2 control groups. conclusions: long-term exposure to noise may cause vestibular symptoms before clinically detectable hearing loss. the symptoms are subtle for which they are mostly neglected; the symptoms do not affect the functional ability of workers.