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Full-time exposure to occupational noise during pregnancy was associated with reduced birth weight in a nationwide cohort study of Swedish women

Selander, Jenny ; Rylander, Lars LU orcid ; Albin, Maria LU ; Rosenhall, Ulf ; Lewné, Marie and Gustavsson, Per (2019) In Science of the Total Environment 651. p.1137-1143
Abstract

Noise is a common exposure in the occupational work environment. Earlier studies of occupational noise and pregnancy outcome are few and show mixed results. To investigate if objectively assessed exposure to occupational noise during pregnancy is associated with reduced intrauterine growth and/or preterm birth a nationwide cohort study of 857,010 single births was initiated. Individual information on occupation and risk factors was retrieved from prenatal care interviews at pregnancy week 10. Occupational noise was classified into three exposure categories <75, 75–85, >85 dBA by a job exposure matrix. Odds ratios were adjusted for BMI, smoking, parity, education, physically strenuous work and low job control. Exposure to high... (More)

Noise is a common exposure in the occupational work environment. Earlier studies of occupational noise and pregnancy outcome are few and show mixed results. To investigate if objectively assessed exposure to occupational noise during pregnancy is associated with reduced intrauterine growth and/or preterm birth a nationwide cohort study of 857,010 single births was initiated. Individual information on occupation and risk factors was retrieved from prenatal care interviews at pregnancy week 10. Occupational noise was classified into three exposure categories <75, 75–85, >85 dBA by a job exposure matrix. Odds ratios were adjusted for BMI, smoking, parity, education, physically strenuous work and low job control. Exposure to high (>85 dBA) levels of occupational noise throughout the pregnancy (full time workers) was associated with an increased risk of the child being born small for gestational age, OR 1.44 (95% CI 1.01 to 2.03) compared to noise exposure <75 dBA. A similar increase was seen for low birth weight OR 1.36 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.80) for high levels of noise. No clear association was seen for preterm birth. No consistent effects on birth outcome was observed in women who had worked part-time or were on leave of absence >21 days (median). In summary, full-time exposure to high levels of noise during pregnancy was associated with a slightly reduced fetal growth but not with preterm birth. The effect of intermediate occupational noise exposure (75–85 dBA) showed a small, but statistically increased risk for all studied birth outcomes. The study strengthens the evidence that pregnant women should not be long-term exposed to high levels >85 dBA of occupational noise during pregnancy. Intermediate exposure should be studied further.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Birth weight, Fetus, Growth, Noise, Occupation, Pregnancy
in
Science of the Total Environment
volume
651
pages
7 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85053772013
  • pmid:30360245
ISSN
0048-9697
DOI
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.212
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
834fc401-f68e-4a00-a6f1-8f9aad2f1482
date added to LUP
2018-10-08 09:03:04
date last changed
2024-04-01 09:59:38
@article{834fc401-f68e-4a00-a6f1-8f9aad2f1482,
  abstract     = {{<p>Noise is a common exposure in the occupational work environment. Earlier studies of occupational noise and pregnancy outcome are few and show mixed results. To investigate if objectively assessed exposure to occupational noise during pregnancy is associated with reduced intrauterine growth and/or preterm birth a nationwide cohort study of 857,010 single births was initiated. Individual information on occupation and risk factors was retrieved from prenatal care interviews at pregnancy week 10. Occupational noise was classified into three exposure categories &lt;75, 75–85, &gt;85 dBA by a job exposure matrix. Odds ratios were adjusted for BMI, smoking, parity, education, physically strenuous work and low job control. Exposure to high (&gt;85 dBA) levels of occupational noise throughout the pregnancy (full time workers) was associated with an increased risk of the child being born small for gestational age, OR 1.44 (95% CI 1.01 to 2.03) compared to noise exposure &lt;75 dBA. A similar increase was seen for low birth weight OR 1.36 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.80) for high levels of noise. No clear association was seen for preterm birth. No consistent effects on birth outcome was observed in women who had worked part-time or were on leave of absence &gt;21 days (median). In summary, full-time exposure to high levels of noise during pregnancy was associated with a slightly reduced fetal growth but not with preterm birth. The effect of intermediate occupational noise exposure (75–85 dBA) showed a small, but statistically increased risk for all studied birth outcomes. The study strengthens the evidence that pregnant women should not be long-term exposed to high levels &gt;85 dBA of occupational noise during pregnancy. Intermediate exposure should be studied further.</p>}},
  author       = {{Selander, Jenny and Rylander, Lars and Albin, Maria and Rosenhall, Ulf and Lewné, Marie and Gustavsson, Per}},
  issn         = {{0048-9697}},
  keywords     = {{Birth weight; Fetus; Growth; Noise; Occupation; Pregnancy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  pages        = {{1137--1143}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Science of the Total Environment}},
  title        = {{Full-time exposure to occupational noise during pregnancy was associated with reduced birth weight in a nationwide cohort study of Swedish women}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.212}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.212}},
  volume       = {{651}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}