Korean J Prev Med.  2002 Aug;35(3):205-213.

Cohort Study for the Effect of Chronic Noise Exposure on Blood Pressure among Male Workers

• Lee JH
• Cha TJ
• Kim JR
• Kang W
• Yaang SR
• Lee CR
• Yoo CI

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Whether exposure to chronic noise induces an increase in blood pressure, or the development of hypertension, has not been established. A cohort study was performed to identify the effects of chronic noise exposure on blood pressure.
METHODS
530 males working at a metal manufacturing factory in Busan, Korea were enrolled for the study. They were monitored for 9 consecutive years, from 1991 to 1999, with an annual health check-up. The subjects were divided into 4 groups, which were determines by noise level categories(NLC) according to noise intensity ; NLC-I: office workers, exposed to noise a level below 60dB(A); NLC-II: field technical supporters or supervisors, frequently exposed to workplace noise, wearing no hearing protection device; NLC-III: workers, exposed to workplace noise below 85 dB(A), wearing ear plugs or muffs; NLC-IV: workers, exposed to workplace noise over 85 dB(A), wearing both ear plugs and muffs.
RESULTS
After controlling possible confoundens, such as baseline age, smoking, alcohol intake, exercise, family history of hypertension, systolic(SBP) or diastolic blood pressure(DBP) and changes in BMI (body mass index), the pooled mean for the systolic blood pressures, over the duration of the study period, were 3.8mmHg, 2.0mmHg and 1.7mmHg higher in NLC-IV, NLC-III NLC-II groups, respectively, than in the NLC-I group. There were no significant differences in the diastolic blood pressures between the groups.
CONCLUSION
This study suggests that chronic noise exposure increases systolic blood pressure independently, among male workers.

Keyword

Noise; Blood pressure; Cohort studies; Workers

MeSH Terms

Blood Pressure*
Busan
Cohort Studies*
Ear
Hearing
Humans
Hypertension
Korea
Male*
Noise*
Smoke
Smoking
Smoke