Photo credit: woodleywonderworks licensed under CC BY 2.0
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
Anyone who has seen a bunch of schoolchildren, in a park or a museum or a zoo--perhaps anywhere other than a library--knows that they can be noisy. And noise exposure causes hearing problems.
This report from Sweden discusses the high prevalence of hearing-related problems among preschool teachers there, including hearing loss, difficulty understanding speech, and sensitivity to noise.
The findings have to be replicated in other countries--maybe Swedish kids are noisier than others?--but the report shows that noise is a ubiquitous occupational hazard, even for preschool teachers.
