Identificación De Las Patologías Auditivas y Factores De Riesgo Asociados En Los Teleoperadores De Una Central De Llamadas En Bogotá-Colombia

Abstract

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in telemarketers of a prestigious collection company in the city of Bogotá, between the months of June to November 2016. The study population was 41 telemarketers, all call center consultants were taken from the headquarters The Pole with prior authorization for the application of the GATIHNR questionnaire. A final sample size of 26 telemarketers was calculated for audiometry. Results: The age range with the highest percentage was 17 to 21 years with 41%, female sex predominates with 61%. 5% of workers perform headset rotation during their workday. With 27% the symptoms that most affect the teleoperators are tinnitus and vertigo with 27%. The risk factors with prevalence ratio (PR) <1 were: rotation of the handset, exposure to noise in previous jobs, discotheque, hunting, military service, music, relatives with ENT diseases, consumption of salicylates, other ototoxic treatments, alcohol, arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus, with RP value> 1: motorism (8.25) and tobacco consumption (2.8). The prevalence of mixed sensorineural and conductive hearing loss in the study population was 7.7%. Conclusion: Most telemarketers are young, and female. It highlights the high turnover of staff, the lack of policies for the conservation of hearing health, as well as the scarce information and little appropriation of knowledge about the proper use of the headset. Of the 26 workers obtained by sampling, two tele-operators reported through audiometry with mixed sensorineural and bilateral conductive hearing loss due to a decrease in frequencies (3000, 4000, 6000 and 8000 Hz). It can not be concluded that its origin is attributable to the exercise of the present work activity or if it was developed before its incorporation into the call center, since the company does not have income audiometry.