| ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 14
| Issue : 59 | Page : 159--165 |
Noise and hand-arm vibration exposure in relation to the risk of hearing loss
Hans Pettersson1, Lage Burström1, Mats Hagberg2, Ronnie Lundström1, Tohr Nilsson3
1 Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
2 Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
3 Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Sundsvall Hospital, Sundsvall, Sweden
Correspondence Address:
Hans Pettersson
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, SE-901 87, Umeå
Sweden
 Source of Support: AFA Insurance (Project 2007-0104), Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1463-1741.99887
The aim of this study was to examine the possible association of combined exposure of noise and hand-arm vibration (HAV) and the risk of noise-induced hearing loss. Workers in a heavy engineering industry were part of a dynamic cohort. Of these workers, 189 had HAV exposure, and their age and hearing status were recorded in the same year and were, therefore, included in the analysis. Data on HAV duration and acceleration was gathered through questionnaires, observations, and measurements. All available audiograms were categorized into normal and hearing loss. The first exposure variable included the lifetime HAV exposure. The lifetime HAV exposure was multiplied by the acceleration of HAV for the second and third exposure variable. Logistic regression using the Generalized Estimation Equations method was chosen to analyze the data to account for the repeated measurements. The analysis was performed with both continuous exposure variables and with exposure variables grouped into exposure quartiles with hearing loss as an outcome and age as a covariate. With continuous exposure variables, the odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) for hearing loss was equal to or greater than one for all exposure variables. When the exposure variables were grouped into quartiles, the OR with a 95% CI was greater than one at the third and fourth quartile. The results show that working with vibrating machines in an environment with noise exposure increases the risk of hearing loss, supporting an association between exposure to noise and HAV, and the noise-induced hearing loss.
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