Long-term effect of occupational noise on the risk of coronary heart disease

Abstract

Virkkunen H, Kauppinen T, Tenkanen L. Long-term effect of occupational noise on the risk of coronary heart disease. Scand J Work Environ Health 2005;31(4):291-199.Objectives The aim of the study was to investigate the short-and long-term effects of occupational exposure to continuous and impulse noise on the risk of CHD. MethodsThe effect of noise on CHD was studied among 6005 Finnish middle-aged industrially employed men (part of the screeners in the Helsinki Heart Study) in a prospective 18-year follow-up study. The CHD end points (codes 410-414 in the ninth revision of the International Classification of Diseases and codes I20-I25 in the tenth revision) were obtained from official Finnish registers. The Finnish job-exposure matrix FINJEM provided estimates of the proportion of exposed persons and the mean level of exposure among those exposed by occupation. The relative risks (RR) of CHD and the 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for noise exposure were calculated from Cox's proportional hazard models with adjustment for some other risk factors of CHD. ResultsThe short-term (9-year follow-up) relative risk of CHD for the combined noise (continuous noise exceeding 80 decibels and impulse noise) was 1.38 (95% CI 1.04-1.82), and the long-term (18-year follow-up) RR was 1.54 (95% CI 1.28-1.86). For blue-collar workers the corresponding estimates were 1.11 (95% CI 0.82-1.51) and 1.29 (95% CI 1.05-1.57). Adjustment for other relevant risk factors did not materially change the results. ConclusionsIn our long-term follow-up of industrially employed men, exposure to noise, especially to impulse noise, was associated with a moderate, but statistically significant increase in CHD risk that persisted even after the workers had passed the age of retirement.

The Influence of Selected Risk Factors on the Hearing Threshold Level of Noise Exposed Employees

“…There are many studies on noise and heart diseases. The comparison of the study results (Virkkunen et al, 2005) confirms a slight increase of cardiovascular disease risk in populations exposed to work noise. The comparison can lead to the conclusion that noise exposure can contribute to the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, the evidence for a relation between noise exposure and ischemic heart disease is still inconclusive.…”

Occupational noise exposure, social class, and risk of ischemic heart disease and all-cause mortality – a 16-year follow-up in the Copenhagen Male Study

“…In particular, as stated by McNamee et al (4), apart from their own study, only a few other prospective epidemiological studies have addressed the issue of occupational noise exposure as a risk factor for IHD (2,5,6). McNamee et al (4) concluded that, compared to unexposed men, no statistically robust risk could be found for an increased risk of IHD among nuclear power workers exposed to noise after adjustment for blood pressure, height, body mass index (BMI), and smoking.…”

“…The other cohort study nearly fulfilling the above criteria, that of Virkkunen et al (6), found an increased risk of coronary heart disease among men exposed to occupational noise. The major problem in that study was the crude classification of social class.…”

“…In a register cohort study of 27 464 blue-collar workers from lumber mills in British Columbia, Davies et al (5) found a relative risk of 1.5 (95% CI 1.1-2.2) for circulatory deaths (N=2510) in the highest noise-exposed group; smoking did not explain the association. In an 18-year follow-up study of 6005 middle-aged industrially employed men, Virkkunen et al (6) found a relative risk of 1.54 (95% CI 1.28-1.86) for those exposed to continuous or impulse noise when adjusting for classical risk factors for coronary heart disease. For blue-collar workers, the relative risk was 1.29 (95% CI 1.05-1.57).…”

Cohort mortality study of Swedish pulp and paper mill workers—nonmalignant diseases

“…Studies analyzing shift work among pulp and paper mill workers have shown an increased risk of ischemic heart disease, as well as risk factors for metabolic syndrome (3,33,34). Occupational noise exposure increases the risk of hypertension (35) and probably also that of ischemic heart disease (36). In a Finnish register study, the job exposures with the most influence on cardiovascular mortality were high workload, low job control, noise, and shift work (37).…”