Insomnia and hearing impairment among occupational noise exposed male workers

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the association between insomnia and hearing impairment among workers exposed to occupational noise. METHODS This study included 809 male workers exposed to occupational noise. The participants underwent audiometric testing, and their insomnia was examined based on the Insomnia Severity Index test. Hearing impairment was defined as hearing threshold >25 dB hearing level in the range of 1-4 kHz. RESULTS According to analysis of covariance, it was observed that pure tone audiometry thresholds at 1-2 kHz in the right ear and at 1 kHz in the left ear were significantly higher among workers with insomnia compared to those with no insomnia. Multiple logistic regression analysis of insomnia for hearing impairments was performed, which showed the odds ratio was 1.806 (95% confidence intervals: 1.022-3.188, p = 0.042) after adjustment for age, working period, noise level, snoring, use of protection devices, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking, alcohol consumption, regular exercise, waist circumference, total cholesterol, triglyceride and high density lipoprotein cholesterol. CONCLUSION Insomnia could be associated with hearing impairment in workers who are exposed to occupational noise. Additionally, insomnia may be associated with decreased hearing at low frequencies. Especially, more efforts are required to improve the quality of sleep for workers who are exposed to loud occupational noise. Further well- designed prospective studies are needed to clarify the relationship between insomnia and hearing impairment.