Perception of hearing loss among call center workers in Barranquilla (Northern Colombia) Percepción de pérdida auditiva en trabajadores de call center en Barranquilla (Norte de Colombia)
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The perception of hearing loss and listening effort was investigated among call center agents in Barranquilla (2025), a high-demand, noisy environment. This was a cross-sectional observational study with convenience sampling. Fifty-five valid questionnaires from workers with ≥3 months of seniority and headphone use were analyzed. The instrument, adapted from the HHIA, QSHL, and a THI module, included 18 items (No/Sometimes/Yes) recoded 0–2 for a score of 0–36 (α=0.71). Frequencies and descriptive statistics were estimated. The mean score was 16.04 (SD=9.27); 85.5% had ≥1 affirmative response, and 20.0% reported tinnitus at the end of the shift. The highest proportions of “Yes” responses were observed for requests for repetitions, difficulty understanding with floor noise, anxiety under high workloads, and concern about performance and possible hearing impairment. This profile suggests speech intelligibility deficits in noise and high cognitive load with preserved clinical thresholds, consistent with listening effort frameworks and subclinical pathophysiology.
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Liberman, M.C., & Kujawa, S.G. (2017). Cochlear synaptopathy in acquired sensorineural hearing loss: Manifestations and mechanisms. Hearing Research, 349, 138–147.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2017.01.003
Masterson, EA, Tak, S., Themann, CL, Wall, DK, Groenewold, MR, Deddens, JA, & Calvert, GM (2013). Prevalence of hearing loss in the United States by industry. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 56(6), 670–681.https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.22082
Münzel, T., Sørensen, M., Schmidt, F., Schmidt, E., Steven, S., Kröller-Schön, S., & Daiber, A. (2018). The adverse effects of environmental noise exposure on oxidative stress and cardiovascular risk. Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, 28(9), 873–908.https://doi.org/10.1089/ars.2017.7118
Natarajan, N., Batts, S., & Stankovic, K.M. (2023). Noise-induced hearing loss. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(6), 2347.https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12062347
Newman, C.W., Jacobson, G.P., & Spitzer, J.B. (1996). Development of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory. Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, 122(2), 143–148.https://doi.org/10.1001/archotol.1996.01890140029007
Newman, C.W., Weinstein, B.E., Jacobson, G.P., & Hug, G.A. (1990). The Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults: Psychometric adequacy and audiometric correlates. Ear and Hearing, 11(6), 430–433.https://doi.org/10.1097/00003446-199012000-00004
Nondahl, D.M., Cruickshanks, K.J., Wiley, T.L., Klein, R., Klein, B.E.K., & Tweed, T.S. (1998). Accuracy of self-reported hearing loss. Audiology, 37(5), 295–301.https://doi.org/10.3109/00206099809072983
Peelle, J. E. (2018). Listening effort: How the cognitive consequences of acoustic challenge are reflected in brain and behavior. Ear and Hearing, 39(2), 204–214.https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000000494
Pichora-Fuller, MK, Kramer, SE, Eckert, MA, Edwards, B., Hornsby, BW, Humes, LE, Lemke, U., Lunner, T., Matthen, M., Mackersie, CL, Naylor, G., Phillips, NA, Richter, M., Rudner, M., Sommers, MS, Tremblay, KL, & Wingfield, A. (2016). Hearing impairment and cognitive energy: The Framework for Understanding Effortful Listening (FUEL). Ear and Hearing, 37(Suppl 1), 5S–27S.https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000000312
Prendergast, G., Guest, H., Munro, KJ, Kluk, K., Léger, A., Hall, DA, Heinz, MG, & Plack, CJ (2017). Effects of noise exposure on young adults with normal audiograms I: Electrophysiology. Hearing Research, 344, 68–81.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2016.10.028
Smits, C., Theo Goverts, S., & Festen, J.M. (2013). The digits-in-noise test: Assessing auditory speech recognition abilities in noise. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 133(3), 1693–1706.https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4789933
Tikka, C., Verbeek, JH, Kateman, E., Morata, T.C., Dreschler, W.A., & Ferrite, S. (2017). Interventions to prevent occupational noise-induced hearing loss. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017(7), CD006396.https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD006396.pub4
von Elm, E., Altman, D.G., Egger, M., Pocock, S.J., Gøtzsche, P.C., & Vandenbroucke, J.P. (2007). The STROBE statement: Guidelines for reporting observational studies. PLoS Medicine, 4(10), e296.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0040296
World Health Organization. (2018). Environmental noise guidelines for the European region. WHO Regional Office for Europe.https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289053563.