Working in Preschool Increases the Risk of Hearing-Related Symptoms

Working in preschool increases the risk of hearing-related symptoms: a cohort study among Swedish women

PURPOSE:
To assess whether working in preschools increases the risk of hearing-related symptoms and whether age, occupational noise, and stressful working conditions affect the risk.

METHODS:
Questionnaire data on hearing-related symptoms were analysed in women aged 24-65 (4718 preschool teachers, and 4122 randomly selected general population controls). Prevalence and risk ratio (RR) of self-reported hearing loss, tinnitus, difficulty perceiving speech, hyperacusis and sound-induced auditory fatigue were assessed by comparing the cohorts in relation to age and self-reported occupational noise and stressful working conditions (effort-reward imbalance and emotional demands). RR was calculated using log-binomial regression models adjusted for age, education, income, smoking, hearing protection, and leisure noise. Incidence rates and incidence rate ratios (IRR) were calculated for retrospectively reported onset of all symptoms except sound-induced auditory fatigue.

RESULTS:
Compared to the controls, preschool teachers had overall more than twofold RR of sound-induced auditory fatigue (RR 2.4, 95% confidence interval 2.2-2.5) and hyperacusis (RR 2.3, 2.1-2.5) and almost twofold for difficulty perceiving speech (RR 1.9, 1.7-2.0). Preschool teachers had a threefold IRR of hyperacusis (IRR 3.1, 2.8-3.4) and twofold for difficulty perceiving speech (IRR 2.4, 2.2-2.6). Significantly although slightly less increased RR and IRR were observed for hearing loss and tinnitus. RR and IRR were generally still increased for preschool teachers when stratified by age and occupational exposure to noise and stress.

CONCLUSIONS:
This large cohort study showed that working as preschool teacher increases the risk of self-reported hearing-related symptoms, indicating a need of preventative measures.

 

Working in any school can. I have to visit these schools as part of my job and honestly it's like walking through a sound minefield. God help the people that work there full time.

 

Conclusion:
Little kids are very loud.

 

And the rest. And the teachers with their whistles and bells and music classes.

 

This has to be harmful to the children as well, isn't it? Even though most of them will move on to quieter schools.

 

Absolutely.

 

if this was done accurately, then there's more going on here than "little kids are loud", and would either have to relate to the pitch/type of noise exposure, or, the fact that teachers themselves might be blowing loud whistles and raising their own voices a lot.

So far I haven't had the sense that managing a child is having any repercussions on my hearing, but that's quite different than handling dozens of them every day for years. On the other hand, my mom did it for decades and her hearing is still great compared to my dad.

 

Very accurate conclusion. I have twin 1 year old boys and I have tinnitus and hyperacusis. It developed when they were 4 months old (but not from them).

 

Infectious viral/bacterial contagions are much, much higher among preschoolers as they require constant hands-on management and attention, along with loud noise exposure. I'm surprised the former was not mentioned in the study, as it's the primary cause of ENT issues, often affecting educators. Parents of 3-5 yr olds with flu-bugs from school would relate, so imagine handling 10 to 20 of them on a full-time basis (some with additional disabilities)? Contagions and loud sounds greatly lessens for those who work in older age groups.

 

I can’t work in schools anymore.

Kids, bells, whistles... don’t sit well with tinnitus and hyperacusis.

I am trying to reinvent myself, tutoring, private teaching with adults etc.
I do miss being a home room teacher, being with children, who are imaginative, funny, really cute, and a joy to be with.

When I pick up my kids from school now, I wait outside, it’s just too noisy.

I lost my hearing and developed tinnitus and hyperacusis not from teaching but the last year at work I just popped pills and kept working till my body shut me down, my ears shut me down.
Schools are noisy.
Kids are noisy.
The city is noisy.
Such is life, I am adjusting. I will fight to salvage a great life.

Glynis still teaches, but everyone’s condition and tolerances are different.

So, yah, just some words from an ex teacher. I miss it.

My financial status has dropped with the onset of my chronic tinnitus.

This will change, everything changes.

Best wishes to all,
Sincerely

 

I’m a preschool teacher...

 

How’s that going for you?

 

Demand earplugs from your employer?

I went to some useless kind of "group information" thingy that you too will have to go to to get any real help in Stockholm. Many poor ladies there worked in preschools etc

 

I have my customized ones. I will use them. Maybe ear muffs as well... Omg, I really hate this! I was f*cking normal only three months ago I then decided to be an idiot.

What kind of group was this?

 

I don’t know yet because my tinnitus started this year, staying at home with our daughter.

 

The info meeting is something you have to do to get help from ENTs, therapists, audiologists at Rosenlund hospital... Been waiting 7 months to see an audiologist there.

 

Oh, and I wanted to go there. But the ENT I went to he said no! He was like, ”you have no hearing loss”... eeh, ”yea I do have!, in my upper frequencies”. But he refused to believe me. He thinks that people can only hear up to 8 kHz. Omg, was he stupid.

 

An ENT told me exactly the same thing. How is it possible?

Back to the topic: one of my sisters works in preschool and has moderate tinnitus.

 

Wow... Can I ask where that ENT was located? Sound even worse than the ones I've seen

Same story here. "no hearing loss" he said. "Absolutely not caused by noise" he said. "Continue using headphones" he said. I should have known better.

Anyway, so far Rosenlund seems useless. They take my case seriously enough since my T is one sided (or it was, when I first got help so that's the info they have). They can do hearing tests above 8khz, and also do some kind of test to see if the T is caused by some anomaly in the cerebral cortex. Seeing the audiologist there in 14 days. Expectations are low but maybe they can loan me WNGs or something.

 

My grandmother was an RN, worked as the head of pediatric nursing at a hospital for many years, and wore hearing aids from her middle age years, through the end of her life.

 

What is WNG?

 

Because they are useless and with lack of knowledge, big time!

 

One week after onset I did an audiogram and the audiologist told me to continue with my life as normal, and USE headphones. Luckily I stopped almost immediately because I knew that something was horrible wrong with me.