Relationship of cigarette smoking and hearing loss in workers exposed to occupational noise

Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Joo Hyun Sung¹  Chang Sun Sim¹  Choong-Ryeol Lee¹  Cheol-In Yoo¹  Hun Lee¹  Yangho Kim¹  Jiho Lee¹ 

[1] Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 290-3, Jeonha-dong, Dong-gu, Ulsan 682-714, South Korea

关键词: Smoking;    Occupational noise;    Hearing loss;   

Others  :  791145
DOI  :  10.1186/2052-4374-25-8

 received in 2013-02-01, accepted in 2013-05-09,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Objectives

To investigate the effects of smoking on hearing loss among workers exposed to occupational noise.

Methods

From the results of a special workers health examination performed in 2011, we enrolled 8,543 subjects exposed to occupational noise and reviewed the findings. Using self-reported questionnaires and health examination results, we collected data on age, smoking status, disease status, height, weight, and biochemistry and pure tone audiometry findings. We divided the workers into 3 groups according to smoking status (non-smoker, ex-smoker, current smoker). Current smokers (n = 3,593) were divided into 4 groups according to smoking amount (0.05–9.9, 10–19.9, 20–29.9, ≥30 pack-years). We analyzed the data to compare hearing thresholds between smoking statuses using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) after controlling for confounder effects.

Results

According to ANCOVA, the hearing thresholds of current smokers at 2 k, 3 k, and 4 kHz were significantly higher than that of the other groups. Multiple logistic regression for smoking status (reference: non-smokers) showed that the adjusted odds ratios of current smokers were 1.291 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.055–1.580), 1.180 (95% CI: 1.007–1.383), 1.295 (95% CI: 1.125–1.491), and 1.321 (95% CI: 1.157–1.507) at 1 k, 2 k, 3 k, and 4 kHz, respectively. Based on smoking amount, the adjusted odds ratios were 1.562 (95% CI: 1.013–2.408) and 1.643 (95% CI: 1.023–2.640) for the 10–19.9 and ≥30 pack-years group, respectively, at 1 kHz (reference: 0.05–9.9 pack-years). At 2 kHz, the adjusted odds ratios were increased statistically significantly with smoking amount for all groups. At all frequencies tested, the hearing thresholds of noise-exposed workers were significantly influenced by current smoking, in particular, the increase of hearing loss at low frequencies according to smoking amount was more prevalent.

Conclusions

Current smoking significantly influenced hearing loss at all frequencies in workers exposed to occupational noise, and heavier smoking influenced low-frequency hearing loss more greatly. There was a dose–response relationship between smoking amount and low-frequency hearing thresholds; however, this was not observed for high-frequency hearing thresholds. Therefore, well-designed prospective studies are needed to clarify the effects of smoking on the degree of hearing loss.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Sung et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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