Effectiveness verification of an educational program on hearing protection for noise-exposed workers Verificação da efetividade de uma ação educativa sobre proteção auditiva para trabalhadores expostos a ruído ABSTRACT Purpose: To verify the effectiveness of an educational action in the form of training, emphasizing the importance of hearing protection for workers exposed to occupational noise. Me thods: The study included 78 male individuals. All participants answered a questionnaire before they were submitted to audiological evaluation.For the second application of the questionnaire, participants were randomly divided into two groups: Research Group, constituted by 44 subjects that received educational training before the second questionnaire application, and Control Group, comprising 34 individuals that answered the questionnaire before the educational training.Training was based on material with graphic images and text, in the form of conversation. The topics covered included: the importance of hearing, noise effects on health, importance of preventing hearing loss and using hearing protection, conservation and cleaning of hearing protectors, levels of noise in the workplace and noise attenuation provided by hearing protectors.

Objective: to verify the effect of a vestibular rehabilitation program on workers with dizziness from the Division of Nutrition and Dietetics at a University Hospital. Methods: a total of 13 employees between 42 and 65 years of age participated, of whom, 1 was male, and 12, females. They were evaluated before and after the vestibular rehabilitation program using the Dizziness Handicap Inventory, Work Ability Index and Visual Analog Scale. The program was conducted in groups at the workplace. Statistical analysis was performed using the analysis of variance test for paired factors and the chi-square test. Results: in the pre-and post-vestibular rehabilitation comparison, significant differences were found in the Dizziness Handicap Inventory and Visual Analogue Scale scores. In the qualitative analysis of the Work Ability Index, an increase was observed in the number of workers who considered their ability to work to have improved. Conclusion: vestibular rehabilitation conducted in groups and in the working environment was effective in improving dizziness complaint in workers at the Division of Nutrition and Dietetics. It is believed that the positive experience of this program may be extended to other areas.

Both objective and subjective attenuation tests demonstrated the efficacy of training on insertion of hearing protectors because the group that received training on proper hearing protection insertion exhibited higher attenuation values than the untrained group.

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Noise in the school environment has been a major concern in many countries around the world. Students need a favorable signal-to-noise ratio in the classroom to ensure adequate speech intelligibility, which is directly dependent on the acoustics of the classroom and favorable noise levels in these environments. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> To evaluate the effectiveness of physical, organizational, and educational interventions to achieve noise reduction in a school. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Presentations on the effects of noise were made to school administrators, teachers, and students (educational activities), and also to the students’ families. Then, thermoacoustic treatment, changes in break times, equipment maintenance, and scheduling of students’ departure were applied. Sound pressure levels were measured before and after interventions for the unoccupied and occupied classroom conditions (<i>n</i> = 11 classrooms) and of the school’s outside areas (<i>n</i> = 4). Self-administered printed pre- and postintervention multiple-choice questionnaires were completed by the students in the classroom. Measures of the signal-to-noise ratio of the teachers’ voice before and after the interventions were also conducted (<i>n</i> = 3 classrooms). The interventions included installation of an acoustic ceiling, installation of air-conditioning, and replacement of the existing furniture with wood furniture. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Comparing the pre- and postintervention questionnaires, the Annoyance Index was reduced from 0.78 to 0.59. The tinnitus reported by the individuals increased significantly in the postintervention questionnaire (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001). Significant reductions in noise levels in both unoccupied and occupied classrooms were observed. There was also an improvement in the mean signal-to-noise ratio in the evaluated classrooms (<i>n</i> = 3) from +7.5 to +8.4 dB. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Subjective measures and objective assessments demonstrated that both physical and educational interventions had a positive effect on short-term changes in habits and noise reduction in the school environment.