PURPOSE: to characterize the auditory profile of workers at a Meat and Derivative Warehouse of the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte. METHODS: it is a transversal study where 53 workers of this warehouse had been evaluated, with application of questionnaire and analysis of audiometric examinations. RESULTS: from the evaluated employees, 5.66% showed induced auditory loss for noise. The exposition time did not relate with induced auditory loss for noise. The most common auditory symptoms had been difficulty to understand words (13.2%) and difficulty to bear the intense sounds (11.3%) and the not auditory symptoms had been headache (16.9%) and irritability (11.3%). Significant difference was observed (p < 0.05) when correlating the individuals with normal and modified hearing with the presence of humming, complaint about listening abilities and difficulty to talk in noisy environments. CONCLUSION: the results reveled that individuals with audiometries suggesting induced auditory loss for noise were more vulnerable to humming, also showing more difficulty to talk in noisy environments. However, the others auditory and non-auditory complaints were raised in both groups, regardless of the existence of auditory loss.
Hearing Loss; Noise; Audiometry; Occupational Health; Auditory Threshold
