Occupational noise and hypertension in Southern Chinese workers: a large occupational population-based study.

INTRODUCTION: An increasing number of original studies suggested that occupational noise exposure might be associated with the risk of hypertension, but the results remain inconsistent and inconclusive. In addition, the attributable fraction (AF) of occupational noise exposure has not been well quantified. We aimed to conduct a large-scale occupational population-based study to comprehensively investigate the relationship between occupational noise exposure and blood pressure and different hypertension subtypes and to estimate the AF for hypertension burden attributable to occupational noise exposure. METHODS: A total of 715,135 workers aged 18-60 years were included in this study based on the Key Occupational Diseases Surveillance Project of Guangdong in 2020. Multiple linear regression was performed to explore the relationships of occupational noise exposure status, the combination of occupational noise exposure and binaural high frequency threshold on average (BHFTA) with systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP). Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the relationshipassociation between occupational noise exposure status, occupational noise exposure combined with BHFTA and hypertension. Furthermore, the attributable risk (AR) was calculated to estimate the hypertension burden attributed to occupational exposure to noise. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension among occupational noise-exposed participants was 13·7%. SBP and DBP were both significantly associated with the occupational noise exposure status and classification of occupational noise exposure combined with BHFTA in the crude and adjusted models (all P < 0·0001). Compared with workers without occupational noise exposure, the risk of hypertension was 50% greater among those exposed to occupational noise in the adjusted model (95% CI 1·42-1·58). For participants of occupational noise exposed with BHFTA normal, and occupational noise exposed with BHFTA elevated, the corresponding risks of hypertension were 48% (1·41-1·56) and 56% (1·46-1·63) greater than those of occupational noise non-exposed with BHFTA normal, respectively. A similar association was found in isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) and prehypertension. Subgroup analysis by sex and age showed that the positive associations between occupational noise exposure and hypertension remained statistically significant across all subgroups (all P < 0.001). Significant interactions between occupational noise status, classification of occupational noise exposure combined with BHFTA, and age in relation to hypertension risk were identified (all P for interaction < 0.001). The associations of occupational noise status, classification of occupational noise exposure combined with BHFTA and hypertension were most pronounced in the 18-29 age groups. The AR% of occupational noise exposure for hypertension was 28·05% in the final adjusted model. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational noise exposure was positively associated with blood pressure levels and the prevalence of hypertension, ISH, and prehypertension in a large occupational population-based study. A significantly increased risk of hypertension was found even in individuals with normal BHFTA exposed to occupational noise, with a further elevated risk observed in those with elevated BHFTA. Our findings provide epidemiological evidence for key groups associated with occupational noise exposure and hypertension, and more than one-fourth of hypertension cases would have been prevented by avoiding occupational noise exposure.

[Association between GPX-1 single nucleotide polymorphisms and susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss among Chinese Han population].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX-1) gene, rs3448, rs1050450, rs1800668, and rs1987628, and the susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) among Chinese Han population. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted to investigate the threshold shift of the left ear at 3000 Hz among the workers of Chinese Han population who were exposed to the same level of sound pressure. Two hundred and one (10%) of the subjects with the highest level of threshold shift were recruited in susceptible group, while 202 of (10%) of the subjects with the lowest level of threshold shift were recruited in tolerant group. Targeted occupational health survey and questionnaire survey were performed among these people. For each individual, genome DNA was extracted from 5 ml of fasting peripheral venous blood. Four SNPs (GPX-1 rs3448, rs1050450, rs1800668, and rs1987628) were genotyped by the TaqMan SNP genotyping kit. The main effects of SNPs and the association between NIHL susceptibility and SNPs were analyzed by logistic regression. RESULTS: The C allele of rs1987628 was a risk factor for NIHL, with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.531 (95%CI: 1.878-3.411) as compared with the T allele. The CC genotype of rs1987628 was more associated with NIHL than the TT genotype (OR = 3.500, 95% CI: 1.984-6.174; adjusted OR = 3.544, 95% CI: 1.974 ∼ 6.364). CONCLUSION: Among Chinese Han population, GPX-1 SNP rs1987628 may be associated with the susceptibility to NIHL.