STUDY OF NOISE EXPOSURE AND HIGH BLOOD-PRESSURE IN SHIPYARD WORKERS

A cross-sectional and case-reference study of occupational noise exposure and blood pressure was conducted in a shipyard company. There were 158 male workers from the higher noise environment (> 85 dBA) and 158 matched workers from a lower noise environment (< 80 dBA). The workers in the higher noise environment had higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p < .05) after adjusting for confounding factors. Comparison of regression revealed that there is no different increase in blood pressure with age in different environmental noise exposure. Based on 63 matched hypertensive-normotensive pairs from 2,730 shipyard workers, the relative risk of hypertension among workers exposed to an over-85 dBA acoustic environment, compared to those under 80 dBA, was 2.38. It is suggested that there may be a population of noise-exposed workers at increased risk of high blood pressure.