The National Institute of Occupational Health in Norway, Oslo, Norway.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Occup Med (Lond). 2022 Dec 31;72(9):622-628. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqac085.
Studies show that certain occupations are associated with an increased risk of hearing loss. However, many studies are cross-sectional, and the few longitudinal studies are mostly small or focus on only one occupation.
We aimed to quantify the long-term hearing decline among workers in different occupations and assess whether the change differs between the occupations.
The study population was 4525 adults who participated in two population-based health studies in Norway, HUNT2 1996-1998 and HUNT4 2017-2019. Linear regression models assessed the association between occupations (clerks as reference) and 20-year hearing decline (hearing thresholds at 3-6 kHz, averaged over both ears) from HUNT2 to HUNT4. Models were adjusted for age, sex, recurrent ear infections, smoking and ear pathology.
Among the participants (40% men), the mean age at HUNT2 was 31.2 ± 5.4 years (range 20-39) and the average 20-year hearing decline was 11.3 ± 9.8 dB. Occupations that were associated with larger hearing decline included other craft and related trades workers (3.9 dB, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.2-7.7) and building frame and related trades workers (3.4 dB, 95% CI 1.3-5.4). Among occupations with larger hearing decline, a higher proportion of the workers reported exposure to noise.
This large longitudinal study shows a larger long-term hearing decline among building frame workers and craft and related trades workers. Differences between occupations were modest, which may indicate successful preventive measures in Norway during the last two decades.
研究表明，某些职业与听力损失风险增加有关。然而，许多研究是横断面的，少数纵向研究大多规模较小或仅关注一种职业。
我们旨在量化不同职业工人的长期听力下降，并评估职业间的变化是否存在差异。
研究人群为 4525 名参加挪威两项基于人群的健康研究（HUNT2，1996-1998 年；HUNT4，2017-2019 年）的成年人。线性回归模型评估了职业（以职员为参照）与 20 年听力下降（双耳平均 3-6 kHz 的听力阈值）之间的关系。模型调整了年龄、性别、复发性耳部感染、吸烟和耳部疾病。
在参与者中（40%为男性），HUNT2 时的平均年龄为 31.2±5.4 岁（范围 20-39 岁），平均 20 年听力下降为 11.3±9.8dB。与听力下降较大相关的职业包括其他手工艺和相关行业工人（3.9dB，95%置信区间 [CI] 0.2-7.7）和建筑框架和相关行业工人（3.4dB，95% CI 1.3-5.4）。在听力下降较大的职业中，报告接触噪声的工人比例较高。
这项大规模的纵向研究表明，建筑框架工人和手工艺及相关行业工人的长期听力下降更大。职业间的差异较小，这可能表明挪威在过去 20 年中采取了成功的预防措施。
