OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the relationship between occupational noise exposure and renal dysfunction in male workers.
METHODS: A total of 160 male workers (the number of people who met the inclusion criteria) who underwent health examinations in Qingdao Municipal Hospital from January 2023 to December 2023 were grouped into a noise group (80 cases) and a control group (80 cases) based on whether they engaged in noise work. We compared the differences in creatinine (CREA), cystatin C (CysC) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels between the two groups. We also compared the differences in the above renal function indicators among workers with different working years in the noise group, as well as observed the relationship between renal dysfunction and noise exposure.
RESULTS: The levels of BUN, CREA and CysC in the noise group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The overall abnormal rate of renal function in the noise group (42.50%) was significantly higher than that in the control group (11.25%, P < 0.05). The levels of BUN, CREA and CysC all significantly increased with the increase in working years (P < 0.05). The noise exposure intensity and cumulative noise exposure (CNE) of the group with renal dysfunction were higher than those of the group with normal renal function (P < 0.05). The area under the curve was 0.811 (95% confidence interval: 0.714-0.908), the optimal cut-off value of CNE was 96.53 dB (A) · year, the sensitivity was 89.29%, the specificity was 83.32% and the Youden index was 72.61%.
CONCLUSION: There may be a correlation between long-term noise exposure and renal function. The intensity of noise exposure and CNE may have a certain correlation with renal function damage in occupational noise-exposed workers.
