Sensorineural Hearing Loss in the Structure of Occupational Morbidity in Ukraine: the Problem of Disease Detection

Abstract

The objective of the research was to compare Ukrainian statistics in occupational morbidity with data of other countries, to analyze the trend of the occupational hearing loss formation in Ukraine over a six-year period (2011 – 2016), to consider a modern state of sensorineural hearing loss detection and prophylaxis.Materials and methods. A comparative analysis of occupational morbidity in Ukraine and other counties within 2011-2016 years was based on the data obtained from the reports of the Social Insurance Fund of Ukraine, Statistical Collector, Eurostat, the International Labour Office, the Bureau of Labor Statistic, etc.Results. The difference in Ukrainian and international statistics in occupational morbidity can be explained by the diversity in the surveillance systems. The sharp decline in occupational morbidity in Ukraine within 2014-2016 is connected neither with the improvement of prophylactic measures nor with creating better work conditions. Sensorineural hearing loss has been ranked fourth in occupational morbidity accounting for 2.5%-4% of professional pathology and is underestimated.Conclusions. The underestimation of occupational hearing loss in Ukraine is determined by economic and organizational reasons, scarce diagnostics during medical examinations, peculiarities of the national surveillance system. A possible solution to this problem includes but is not limited to the reduction in countless pathologies caused by a high level of unreported employment, the establishment of unified sensorineural hearing loss classification, the increase in an accuracy of noise zone determination (noise-map construction), the performance of pure-tone audiometry in extended range (9 – 16 kHz).