Hearing loss among teachers: a major public health challenge

Hearing loss is highly prevalent and the third largest cause of years lived with disability. The most frequent cause of adult-onset hearing loss is older age. As the retirement age increases in many countries, a growing number of workers will experience hearing loss, which may affect work participation. Limited research has been done on the consequences of hearing loss in workers in communicative professions. The present study examines the associations of hearing loss with work ability and sick leave among teachers.

Dutch teachers were recruited via schools, educational sector organizations, and trade unions. Teachers completed a survey questionnaire and performed a valid and reliable online speech-in-noise screening test for hearing loss. The survey measured work ability with the single-item Work Ability Score (range 0-10); scores were dichotomised into poor-moderate (score 0-7) and good-excellent (score 8-10) work ability. Teachers were asked if they had been on sick leave in the past three months (no / yes; if yes: how many days). Robust Poisson regression analyses were performed to examine the cross-sectional associations of hearing loss with both work ability (poor to moderate versus good to excellent) and sick leave (yes versus no), adjusted for age, sex, level of education, type of work tasks (only teaching versus a mixture with other (e.g. management) tasks, current work hours per week, and working as a physical education teacher.

A total of 737 teachers participated in the study, of whom 86 (12%) had poor and 146 (20%) insufficient hearing. Teachers with poor and insufficient hearing had a higher prevalence of poor-moderate work ability than good hearing teachers (Prevalence Ratio (PR) = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.36-2.06 and PR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.16-1.70, respectively). Teachers with poor hearing had a higher prevalence of sick leave than good hearing teachers (PR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.21-2.01).

Among teachers, hearing loss was associated with poorer work ability and more sick leave. The results highlight the need for periodic hearing screening as recommended by the WHO. Earlier detection of hearing loss could enable timely work accommodations to prevent work disability of teachers.