An Assessment of the Effect of Noise on Blood Pressure Amongst Traders in Usen, Edo State

‎ABSTRACT
‎Introduction: The objective of the study is to evaluate the environmental noise
‎level and its consequences on blood pressure among traders in Usen. There is
‎evident increase in noise pollution in Nigeria especially in outdoor work
‎environment. Noise has been associated with important cardiovascular
‎health problems.
‎Materials and Methods: Cluster sample of 40 people (men and women) aged
‎between 20 and 60 years randomly selected amongst traders in Usen market Edo
‎State made up the experimental group (noisy environment) while 20 staff of
‎Usen Central Hospital served as control. A noise meter (Peters) was used to
‎measure the ambient noise level for each sample location. The blood pressure
‎and pulse rate were taken in sitting position. Questionnaires elicited demographic
‎information, personal health status and general information. Data was analyzed
‎using student's t-test and correlation/regression.
‎Results: The mean ambient noise level for the control group (Central Hospital
‎Usen) was 62.00±3.71dB while the mean ambient noise level for experimental
‎group was 92.50±3.13dB. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure was
‎higher among the experimental group than the control group. Although, the
‎difference was not statistically significant.
‎Conclusion: This study that evaluated the effect of noise level on blood pressure
‎among traders in Usen revealed that ambient noise level of Usen was (92.50±
‎3.13dB). Exposure to mean noise level of 92.0 dB resulted in insignificantly
‎increased systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure. The sex variation
‎in the effect of noise level on blood pressure was not significant.
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