Abstract
The study population consisted of 196 male hourly workers from a noise exposed (>88 dBA) and 169 from a less noise exposed plant. Participants were 40–63 years of age and had at least 10 years of exposure. Clinical exams consisted of height, weight, pulse, blood pressure, audiometric testing, and occupational history. Body mass index, alcohol intake, and family history of hypertension were comparable for the two groups. There was a significant difference in the proportion of men with severe noise induced hearing loss (SNIHL) (>65 dB loss at 3, 4, and 6 kHz) between the two plants, as well as an increase in the number with hearing impairment. Other definitions of noise induced loss were explored and yielded similar results. A two-way analysis of variance was conducted with mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure as the outcome variable with age as a covariate. The main effects of plant and SNIHL were found to be significant at p<0.05 for diastolic blood pressure only. There was a greater proportion of hypertensives in the 56 + age group with severe noise loss in both plants (p<0.003).
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