Noise exposure caused adverse effects on cardiovascular system and hearing

Objective To observe the adverse effects of noise on cardiovascular system and hearing of the occupationally exposed workers in shipyards. Methods Totally 920 workers occupationally exposed to noise and 900 workers without any records of noise exposure were studied. Occupational health examination was done according to the Technical Specifications for Occupational Health Surveillance(GBZ 188-2014). The suspected cases of hearing loss were tested again with pure tone audiometry after they stopped exposure for 48 hours. Results The exposed workers had higher incidence of self-conscious symptoms, such as the tinnitus, palpitations, deafness and headache(P<0.05). The physical examination showed that the exposed workers had higher incidence of hypertension, myocardial damage and hearing loss(P<0.05).The occurrence rate of hearing loss among male workers was higher than that among female workers(P<0.05). There was a trend that both the rate of speech frequency hearing loss and the rate of high frequency hearing loss were higher among workers with longer exposure time(P<0.05). However,there was no significant difference in the composition of hearing loss among different groups(P>0.05). Conclusion Noise exposure in shipyards caused hypertension, myocardial damage and hearing loss. The effective measures against noise exposure should be taken to protect the worker's health.