Abstract
PP-29-184 Background/Aims: Recently, we have shown a dose-dependent elevation of hearing thresholds across the occupational noise levels in the US general population. Numerous animal studies suggest that dietary antioxidants (vitamins C and E) and other micronutrients (folate and vitamin B12) may play an important role in the pathogenesis of auditory disorders. We investigated potential modifying effects of dietary antioxidants and B-vitamins in the association with occupational noise and hearing loss. Methods: We examined 3922 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2004, a representative sample of the US general population. Occupational noise score was assessed by utilizing the O*NET (Occupational Information Network) exposure database (scored as 1–5) across numerous occupations. Air-conduction hearing threshold was computed as a pure-tone average (PTA) of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz and log-transformed. Quantitative dietary intake data were obtained by means of a 24-hour dietary recall interview. Linear regression models accounting for the complex sampling design were fit with interaction terms between occupational noise and quintiles of each dietary variable, adjusting for potential confounding factors including sociodemographic/clinical risk factors and nonoccupational noise exposures. Results: The mean of occupational noise score was 3.08 (SD: 0.02). An interquartile range increase in occupational noise score (0.91) was associated with a 10.12% (95% CI: 6.52–13.83) elevation of PTA. We found a statistically significant interaction between occupational noise score and intake of vitamin C on PTA (P for trend = 0.02). The lowest quintile of vitamin C group had a statistically significant elevation of PTA in relation to occupational noise (percent change = 15.92% [95% CI: 6.15–26.58]), whereas the highest quintile group had no association between occupational noise and PTA. No effect modification by other dietary factors was observed. Conclusion: This study suggests that higher intake of vitamin C may mitigate a harmful effect of occupational noise on hearing loss.
Published Version
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