Occupational noise effects on hearing thresholds, speech perception, and self-reported hearing abilities in young adult dental hospital personnel

		Right ear				Left ear
		Exposed group (n=31)	Control (n=25)	Test	p	Exposed group (n=31)	Control (n=25)	Test	p
		Mean±SD	Mean±SD	Test	p	Mean±SD	Mean±SD	Test	p
Pure-tone thresholds (dB HL)	250 Hz	15.16±3.98	13.8±6.81	0.934	0.355	15.00±3.87	13.6±6.21	1.032	0.307
	500 Hz	13.71±3.15	13.00±5.77	0.585	0.561	14.35±3.09	12.60±6.14	1.389	0.171
	1000 Hz	9.84±3.29	10.40±3.51	−0.616	0.540	10.32±3.40	10.00±4.79	0.294	0.770
	2000 Hz	7.90±4.43	7.80±3.56	0.094	0.925	8.06±4.02	8.80±4.40	−0.653	0.516
	4000 Hz	9.84±4.91	9.20±6.07	0.435	0.665	10.00±7.42	10.60±7.68	−0.296	0.768
	6000 Hz	13.39±7.89	19.20±16.12	−1.765	0.083	12.74±8.45	14.60±12.98	−0.646	0.521
	8000 Hz	15.16±10.12	18.80±17.58	−0.971	0.336	15.16±13.26	18.20±17.55	−0.738	0.464

* p<0.05 (independent samples t-test)

Table 2

Comparison of SIN measurements between groups and their correlation with age (n=56)

		Exposed group (n=31)	Control (n=25)	p-value^*	Correlation with age (n=56)	p-value^**
		Mean±SD	Mean±SD	p-value^*	r	p-value^**
Right ear	0 dB SNR	67.55±7.79	70.56±7.91	0.159	−0.183	0.178
Right ear	−5 dB SNR	44.52±12.88	45.12±12.78	0.862	−0.275^*	0.040
Left ear	0 dB SNR	68.00±8.88	67.52±9.89	0.849	−0.194	0.151
Left ear	−5 dB SNR	47.16±13.14	46.56±13.11	0.865	−0.362^*	0.006

SIN – speech-in-noise; SNR – signal-to-noise ratio.

* p<0.05 (independent samples t-test);

** Pearson correlation coefficient for age

Table 3

Relationships between pure-tone thresholds and age in all participants (n=56)

			Age
			r	p
Pure-tone thresholds (dB HL)	Right ear	250 Hz	−0.258	0.055
		500 Hz	−0.252	0.061
		1000 Hz	−0.079	0.561
		2000 Hz	0.044	0.746
		4000 Hz	0.419^*	0.001
		6000 Hz	0.259	0.053
		8000 Hz	0.238	0.078
	Left ear	250 Hz	−0.335^*	0.012
		500 Hz	−0.238	0.077
		1000 Hz	−0.020	0.886
		2000 Hz	0.200	0.140
		4000 Hz	0.521^*	0.000
		6000 Hz	0.367^*	0.005
		8000 Hz	0.441^*	0.001

* p<0.05 (Pearson correlation coefficient)

Table 4

Relationships between hearing thresholds, SIN measurements, and years of experience in the exposed group (n=31)

			Years of experience
			r	p
Pure-tone thresholds (dB HL)	Right ear	250 Hz	0.027	0.885
		500 Hz	−0.107	0.568
		1000 Hz	0.036	0.849
		2000 Hz	0.183	0.323
		4000 Hz	0.352	0.052
		6000 Hz	0.020	0.913
		8000 Hz	0.059	0.754
	Left ear	250 Hz	−0.275	0.134
		500 Hz	−0.377^*	0.036
		1000 Hz	−0.068	0.717
		2000 Hz	−0.212	0.253
		4000 Hz	0.041	0.826
		6000 Hz	0.033	0.860
		8000 Hz	0.531^*	0.002
SIN (%)	Right ear	0 dB SNR	0.447^*	0.012
	Right ear	−5 dB SNR	0.370^*	0.041
	Left ear	0 dB SNR	−0.047	0.801
	Left ear	−5 dB SNR	−0.216	0.243

SIN – speech-in-noise; SNR – signal-to-noise ratio.

* p<0.05 (Pearson correlation coefficient)

Table 5

Correlations between years of professional experience and SIN performance in the exposed group (n=31)

	Years of experience
			Zero-order Pearson		Partial Pearson (education controlled)		Partial Pearson (education and age controlled)
			r	p	r²	p	r²	p
SIN %	Right ear	0 dB SNR	0.447^*	0.012	0.120	0.526	0.138	0.474
	Right ear	−5 dB SNR	0.370^*	0.041	0.156	0.412	0.193	0.316
	Left ear	0 dB SNR	−0.047	0.801	−0.007	0.973	−0.018	0.928
	Left ear	−5 dB SNR	−0.216	0.243	0.130	0.493	0.133	0.490

SIN – speech-in-noise; SNR – signal-to-noise ratio.

* p<0.05 (Pearson correlation coefficient)

Table 6

Comparison of SSQ scores between dental (exposed) and control staff (n=56)

	Exposed group (n=31)	Control (n=25)	Total (n=56)	Test	p	Effect size
SSQ Speech Score (Mean±SD)	7.53±1.30	8.30±1.48	7.87±1.43	−2.071	0.043^*	−0.557
SSQ Qualities Score (Mean±SD)	8.30±0.91	8.91±0.85	8.57±0.93	−2.545	0.014^*	−0.684

SSQ – Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale.

* p<0.05 (independent samples t-test)

References

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aiht-2026-77-4131 | Journal eISSN: 1848-6312 (formerly 0004-1254) | Journal ISSN: 0004-1254

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Language: English, Croatian

Page range: 220 - 227

Submitted on: Apr 1, 2026

Accepted on: Sep 1, 2026

Published on: Sep 25, 2026

Published by: Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

audiometry,

dental service,

occupational exposure,

signal-to-noise ratio,

speech in noise hearing test,

Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale

Related subjects:

Medicine,

Basic medical science,

Basic medical science, other

© 2026 Büşra Terzioğlu, Büşra Türkoğlu, Ömer Faruk Demir, Ali Cemal Yumuşakhuylu, Berceste Güler Ayyıldız, published by Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 77 (2026): Issue 3 (September 2026)