Relation of noise-induced hearing loss and tobacco use among workers in a food industry

Purpose to determine whether tobacco use enhances the effects of noise caused hearing. Methods 153 workers of both sexes, smokers and nonsmokers, from an food sector industry, randomly chosen from among 14 sectors of the company, whose band noise was presented a variation from 85 to 109 dB, answered a questionnaire about time exposure to noise as well as on smoking habits and submitted to audiometry. Results the hearing thresholds in the frequencies of 4000 Hz and 6000 Hz were significantly higher in the group of smokers / ex-smokers when compared to nonsmokers in both ears, these thresholds, characteristic of hearing loss induced by noise. These differences remained significant after age adjustment and exposure time. Conclusion through the obtained results it was possible to conclude a correlation between the use of tobacco and hearing loss.

研究目的：明确烟草使用是否会加重噪声性听力损伤。
研究方法：本研究从某食品加工企业的14个部门中随机选取153名男女工人作为研究对象，涵盖吸烟者与非吸烟者；受试者作业环境的噪声频段范围为85至109分贝。所有受试者均填写了关于噪声暴露时长与吸烟习惯的调查问卷，并接受了听阈测听检查。
研究结果：相较于非吸烟者组，吸烟者/既往吸烟者双耳在4000Hz与6000Hz频率下的听阈均显著升高，此类听阈表现符合噪声诱导性听力损失的特征；在校正年龄与噪声暴露时长后，上述差异仍具有统计学显著性。
研究结论：基于本研究所得结果，可明确烟草使用与听力损失之间存在相关性。