Assessment of hearing loss among taxi and agency drivers in a city in northern Iran in 2011

Background: Taxi drivers have the most important role in the public transport services. They are exposed to various harmful agents and occupational hazards. Noise is a harmful occupational factors and hearing loss is its most important effect. Protection of drivers against hearing loss is essential. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of hearing loss among taxi and agency drivers. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 95 drivers (43 taxi drivers and 52 agency drivers) who were selected via simple random sampling. The threshold of drivers' hearing was measured by an audiometer. After data extraction, data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis test to compare the average level of hearing between the left and right ears and drivers. Results: The average age of taxi drivers and agency drivers was 43.5 ± 10.8 and 40.7 ± 8.3 years, respectively. In addition, the average work experience of taxi drivers and agency drivers was 9.5 and 6.5 years, respectively. The average of hearing threshold level in right and left ears of agency drivers was 12.96 ± 4.2 and 12.74 ± 4.64 dB and of taxi drivers was 12.53 ± 5.16 and 15.61 ± 12.7 dB, respectively. A hearing threshold of less than 25 dB in each ear illustrates the lack of hearing loss; thus, the studied drivers did not have hearing loss. Conclusions: The results showed that the drivers hearing status was satisfactory. Furthermore, the prevalence of hearing loss in taxi drivers was higher than agency drivers.