The association between occupational noise exposure and hearing loss among petrochemical enterprise workers in Hainan, South China

To investigate the current situation of hearing loss and the associations of occupational noise exposure with hearing loss in petrochemical enterprise workers. This was a cross-sectional study that employed cluster sampling methods, and 951 workers aged 20-59 years from a petrochemical enterprise were included between June and December 2022. The subjects underwent health status surveys and occupational health examinations. To assess the associations between noise level and hearing loss, a logistic regression model was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A total of 951 participants (837 male and 114 female) were included in this study. And 68.3% of workers had a noise exposure level greater than ≥ 80 dB (A). The prevalence of speech frequency hearing loss, high-frequency hearing loss, and bilateral hearing loss among participants was 2.3% (22/951), 10.2% (97/951), and 10.3% (98/951), respectively. The prevalences of high-frequency hearing loss and binaural hearing loss were compared among subjects grouped by gender, age, family history of hyperlipidaemia, smoking status, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, duration of noise exposure, and level of occupational noise exposure, and all differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.01). Compared with that of participants with noise levels < 80 dB(A), the risk of speech frequency hearing loss was significantly greater in the ≥ 90 dB(A) noise exposure group (OR: 5.33). The noise exposure level 80-89 dB(A) group (OR: 2.75) and the noise exposure level ≥ 90 dB(A) group (OR: 2.16) were both associated with a higher prevalence of high-frequency hearing loss. The noise hazards in petrochemical enterprises are severe. Long-term exposure to occupational noise environments significantly increases the risk of hearing loss among workers. Therefore, it is essential to strengthen noise control and enhance hearing protection efforts to effectively prevent excessive occupational noise exposure, thereby reducing the risk of hearing loss in workers.