Noise Exposure and its Relationship with Hypertension among Fishermen in Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam

Introduction: Fishermen work in an unfavorable working environment, which faces many disadvantages such as inclement weather conditions, prolonged working time with hard labor and are effected by adverse environmental factors, in which noise is the most common agent but there are very few studies on the effects of noise to fishermen’s health especially on blood pressure. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 159 fishermen who were working in 14 offshore ships, a sound level meter was used for noise measurement and the noise exposures were calculated based on the average working time in 8 hours. Questionnaires were used for interviewing, blood pressure was measured by trained local doctors. Result: It was found that 71.1% fishermen were expose to the working noise which is over 85 dBA for 8 working hours a day. The highest average sound level was recorded in the engine room (min-max: 91.896.2), follow by driving cabin (min-max: 83.1-92.2). Blood pressure measurements showed a result of 28.9% hypertensive fishermen. There was not statistically significant between hypertension and exposure to noise. Conclusions: It can be concluded that almost three quarters of the fishermen exposed to noise in the working environment exceeds 85 dBA for 8 hours. Futher studies are required to provide comprehensive approach between noise and hypertension.  How to cite this article: Nhan Nguyen, Duong D Le, Man DM Nguyen, Ha PA Nguyen, Bao VA Ha, Huan M Tran et al. Noise Exposure and its Relationship with Hypertension among Fishermen in Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam. J Integ Comm Health 2020; 9(1): 3-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2319.9113.202001