title: Comparison of blood pressure in deaf-mute children and children with normal hearing: association between noise and blood pressure.
abstract: The present study assessed the relationship between noise exposure and blood pressure. The study population consisted of 892 children from two elementary schools. The noise-sensitive group comprised 583 subjects with normal hearing from one school, while the noise-insensitive group comprised 309 deaf-mutes from another school. The deaf subjects had significantly lower blood pressure than the subjects with normal hearing (P < 0.05) after adjustment for age. Multiple regression analysis revealed that body mass index, age, and hearing ability explained a significant amount of the variation in systolic and diastolic blood pressure (R2 = 0.17 and 0.16, respectively). On the basis of the results, it is suggested that noise exposure is associated with higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: P Y
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D003638:Deafness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors