Noise Exposure, Auditory Ailments, and Non-auditory Effects that Influence the Workability of all Teachers: A Scoping Review

Background: Noise exposure has impacts on health and workability. There are not enough scoping reviews on how noise exposure affects the health and workability of primary and high school teachers. Therefore, this study provides a scoping review of such a topic. Materials and Methods: A search of Google Scholar, JSTOR, Elsevier, PubMed, and reference lists of literature published between 2000 and 2022 was done to find empirical data in the literature on teachers' exposure to noise and its consequences on their hearing and workability. The PRISMA-ScR protocol was applied. Results: All 20 studies reviewed, used a cross-sectional design. 50% of the studies used a calibrated sound level meter to implement the direct noise level evaluation method, while 75.0% used questionnaires. The main school-related noise source was students’ activities (n = 12, 60.0%), and the main non-school-related noise source was vehicles (n = 6, 30%). These led to temporary hearing loss (n = 6, 30.0%). The non-auditory effects, such as shouting and disturbance (n = 8, 40% each) and annoyance (n = 7, 35% each), influenced the workability (performance) of the teachers as well as their interactions in the classroom. The noise levels that produced the effects were 50.0 to 92.1 dBA on primary school teachers and 68.9 to 95.2 dBA on high school teachers. Conclusions: Noise leads to hearing loss and poor workability of teachers. Regular school noise monitoring and surveillance to identify noisy areas and apply interventions is to be done.