Chronic noise exposure may increase overall blood pressure (BP), with each year of exposure increasing odds of hypertension by 10%, according to a new study presented at ACC Asia 2024.

During face-to-face interviews based on a structured questionnaire collecting sociodemographic variables conducted over the course of a year, BP as well as height, weight and noise intensity was recorded for 289 adult workers in Bangladeshi weaving factories. Noise intensity ranged from 96-111 dB (comparable to motorcycles and power tools). None of the workers wore ear protection.

Among the workers, who were mostly men and had a mean age of 34.41 ± 10.17 years and average duration of workplace exposure of 15.97 years, the prevalence of hypertension was 31.5%. A further 53.3% were prehypertensive.

Results showed positive correlations between systolic and diastolic BP with noise exposure duration (p<0.01 for both). Based on the duration of noise exposure, linear regression predicted both systolic and diastolic BP (p<0.01 for both). Notably, each year of exposure increased the risk of hypertension by 10%, adjusted for age, BMI and smoking status (adjusted odds ratio, 1.1, p<0.05).

"While the mechanism is still not well explored, it is thought that the stress response by the body to chronic sound exposure causes hormonal imbalances that gradually leads to a permanent elevation of blood pressure," said Golam Dastageer Prince, MBBS, MPH, the study's lead author. "We must find ways to mitigate the exposure to the noise if we want to reduce the cardiovascular risk of these patients."

The study was one of many presented at ACC Asia 2024, hosted by the ACC and the Cardiological Society of India in Delhi, India, Aug. 16-18.