NOISE EXPOSURE IN WORKPLACE AND MTABOLIC SYNDROME; ARE THEY RELATED?

Several studies confirmed the association of diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, obesity and high body mass index (BMI) on hearing loss among the general population. We think that same with the general population, we might have same association among workers that exposed with noise exposure in their workplaces. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the relationship between metabolic syndrome and noise-induced hearing loss among workers of the Iranian automobile industry. The present survey was performed on 606 workers of an Iranian automobile product factory. According to Noise exposure measurement, we divided workers into the noise-exposed (≥ 85 dB) and unexposed (<85 dB). We compare demographic data, Anthropometric indices, Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, serum level of glucose and lipid profile between two groups. Metabolic syndrome in study participants was determined according to NCEP ATP III criteria. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome had a significant association with higher than 85 dB noise exposure. Moreover, logistic regression analysis showed that exposure with higher than 85 dB noise had an independent predictor of metabolic syndrome. Although there are different and controversial findings on this topic in the literature, we believed that exposure to equal or higher than 85 dB noise in the working population influenced the prevalence of metabolic syndrome.