Abstract

Aims: To find out extra auditory effect of noise like headache, vertigo, tinnitus and difficulty in hearing on textile workers of Surat city who were exposed to high level of sound at their workplace and to find out their relationship with duration of exposure to noise. It was also tried to determine any relationship between degree of hearing loss and extra auditory effect of sound.
Materials and Methods: 50 male Hindu workers of different textile mills of Surat City were examined by audiometry to determine degree of hearing loss and interviewed for subjective feeling of headache, vertigo or tinnitus. Age group of workers was between 20-50 years. Controls were taken from different parts Surat city. All were male and Hindu by religion, between 20-5- years of age without any of exposure to any kind of noise.
Results: Among 50 workers exposed to high level of sound, 30% workers had complained about tinnitus whereas among controls only 2% had complained about it. When tinnitus was correlated with duration of exposure, it was seen that with duration of exposure to noise >20 years (n=20) 55% workers were suffering from tinnitus, with duration of exposure 10-20 years (n=15) 20% were suffering from tinnitus and with duration