Arterial hypertension and noise: a cross-sectional study.

The occurrence of permanent arterial hypertension was studied among the workers of a textile plant (490 subjects) exposed to high frequency noise, at levels often exceeding 100 dBA. The prevalence of the disease among these workers was compared to that observed in a reference series (450 subjects). A prevalence rate ratio equal to 1.34 (1.14-1.57) was estimated, taking into account several determinants of disease acting as confounding factors in the study. The results, which are in good agreement with those obtained in similar studies, are discussed.