Duration of Workplace Noise Exposure and Blood Pressure among Rural Adult Weavers

Abstract This study aimed to determine the effect of duration of noise exposure on blood pressure among rural adult powerloom weavers. A cross-sectional study was done among 289 adult workers of selected weaving factories of Araihazar, Narayanganj, Bangladesh from January to December 2023. A semi-structured questionnaire, containing socio-demographic data, behavioral factors, family history, and disease history was developed as a data collection tool and data was collected by face-to-face interview. Blood pressure, height, weight, and noise intensity were measured accordingly.Among participants, 94.1% were male, 84.4% were married, and more than one-third were without formal education; their mean age was 34.41±10.17. The respondents’ mean duration of workplace exposure was 15.97 years and the measured intensity of noise inside the factories was 105.45 dB (96-111 dB). The mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) was 124.52 mmHg and the mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was 82.93 mmHg. The prevalence of hypertension was 31.5% among the weavers and 53.3% were prehypertensive. Both SBP (R 0.320, p-value <0.01) and DBP (R 0.366, p-value <0.01) had a significant positive correlation with the duration of exposure. Linear regression also significantly predicted SBP (p-value <0.01) and DBP (p-value <0.01) for the duration of noise exposure. In multinomial regression, for each year of exposure, the odds of hypertension increase by 10% (AOR 1.1, p-value <0.05) after adjusting for BMI, age, and smoking. Herein, we were able to demonstrate that duration noise exposure is independently associated to elevated blood pressure and increases the odds of hypertension.