Telecommuting may worsen hearing health, survey finds

Teleworking, which has jumped due to the health crisis, does not help to resolve the impacts of noise on hearing health, and can even sometimes worsen them, according to an Ifop survey initiated by the JNA association (National Day of Hearing) published this Tuesday.

Thus, more than one in two active teleworkers (53%) say they are “

” at their workplace, often at home, as do 66% of regular teleworkers (2 to 3 days per week), reveals the survey.

Read also: Teleworking: be careful to respect the right to disconnect

People teleworking since the start of the health crisis are also more prone to noise pollution than the average (57% against 53%) while a third of working people (34%) say they have worked remotely since the related health crisis. to Covid-19 (against around 25% according to other Ifop surveys in 2019), the survey specifies.

Teleworking, which has become more widespread in recent months, concerns more male than female respondents (38% against 31%) as well as the younger generations, since 40% of those under 35 say they telework (32% of those over 35 ).

For people who telecommute all or most of the time, telephone conversations are the most annoying source of noise (41% against 29% on average), before outside noise (street, roadworks, etc.) or interactions. personal surroundings.

And for more than 80% of teleworkers surveyed, noise pollution has repercussions on their behavior and degrades their quality of work.

While hearing discomfort causes difficulty in understanding speech during telephone conversations for 50% of active workers, this proportion rises to 65% among teleworkers.

A clear majority of teleworkers say they have been affected by hearing difficulties since the health crisis: 74% in collective videoconferencing, 73% on the phone, 71% in individual videoconferencing and 66% with their relatives.

Read also: Will telework sound the death knell for wage labor?

Another finding linked to the health crisis, a majority of active workers (53%) claim to experience hearing difficulties since the obligation to wear a sanitary mask, including 32% "

" and 21% "

".

Here, it is women who are more concerned (57% against 49% of men), like those under 35 (61% against 50% for those over 35).

The survey was carried out on the internet with a representative sample of 1,064 people posted from September 11 to 14.