High-frequency hearing loss, occupational noise exposure and hypertension: a cross-sectional study in male workers

The association between occupational noise exposure and hypertension is inconsistent because of an exposure bias caused by outer-ear measurements of noise levels among workers. This study used hearing loss values (HLVs) measured at 4 kHz and 6 kHz in both ears as a biomarker to investigate the chronic effects of noise exposure on hypertension in 790 aircraft-manufacturing workers.

Methods: Participants were divided into a high hearing loss (HL) group (n = 214; average HLVs >= 30 decibel [dB] at 4 kHz or 6 kHz bilaterally; 83.1 +/- 4.9 A-weighted decibel [dBA]), a median HL group (n = 302; 15 <= average HLVs <30 dB at 4 kHz or 6 kHz bilaterally; 83.1 +/- 4.4 dBA) and a low HL group (n = 274; average HLVs <15 dB at 4 kHz or 6 kHz bilaterally; 82.2 +/- 5.1 dBA) based on the results of pure tone audiometry.

Multivariate logistic regressions were used to estimate the risk of hypertension between groups.

Results: The prevalence rates of hypertension were significantly higher in the high HL (43.5 %; p = 0.021) and median HL (42.1 %; p = 0.029) groups than in the low HL group (33.2 %). The high HL and median HL workers had 1.48-fold (95% confidence interval [95%CI] = 1.02-2.15; p = 0.040) and 1.46-fold (95%CI = 1.03-2.05; p = 0.031) higher risks of hypertension relative to the low HL workers.

Employment duration was significantly and positively correlated with the risk of hypertension among workers with average HLVs 15 dB at 4 kHz (p <0.001) and 6 kHz (p <0.001) bilaterally.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that high-frequency hearing loss is a good biomarker of occupational noise exposure and that noise-induced hearing loss may be associated with the risk of hypertension.

Author: Ta-Yuan ChangChiu-Shong LiuKuei-Hung HuangRen-Yin ChenJim-Shoung LaiBo-Ying Bao
Credits/Source: Environmental Health 2011, 10:35

Published on: 2011-04-25

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Comments Page 1 of 1

Tiffany

Posted 394 days ago

It's important to protect your ears early on to prevent hearing loss later on in life. I work in a loud environment, so I make sure to wear earplugs. I've found plugs from this company called EarPeace to work the best. You can find them on FB

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