Association of occupational noise exposure, bilateral hearing loss with hypertension among Chinese workers

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the relationship of occupational noise, bilateral hearing loss with blood pressure and hypertension among a Chinese population. Methods: We included 15 422 individuals from a cross-sectional survey of the key occupational diseases in 2017 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Occupational noise exposure was evaluated through workplace noise level and/or the job titles. Hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone average of 25 dB or higher at speech frequency (0.5, 1, 2 kHz) or high frequency (3, 4, 6 kHz) in both ears. Hypertension was defined as blood pressure at least 140/90 mmHg or self-reported current use of antihypertensive medication. Results: Compared with participants without occupational noise exposure, the prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher for noise exposure duration of 5 to less than 10 years [odds ratio (OR) = 1.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.04–1.27] and at least 10 years (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.09–1.30). In the sex-specific analysis, the association was significantly pronounced in male (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.06–1.32 for duration of 5 to <10 years; OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.12–1.38 for duration ≥10 years), but not in female (OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.80–1.11 for duration of 5 to <10 years; OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 0.90–1.20 for duration ≥10 years). In the subsample analyses, bilateral hearing loss was associated with a higher prevalence of hypertension, no matter for speech frequency hearing loss (OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.02–1.30 for mild; OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.20–1.50 for severe) or for high-frequency hearing loss (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.03–1.50 for mild; OR = 2.40, 95% CI = 1.80–3.17 for severe). The sex-subgroup analysis of hearing loss with hypertension was similar as occupational noise and hypertension. Conclusion: Our study has suggested occupational noise exposure is a potential risk factor for hypertension.