Association of Noise Exposure, Genetic Susceptibility, and Lifestyle With Type 2 Diabetes: A Prospective Cohort Study

TL;DR

This study finds that long-term workplace noise exposure increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, especially when combined with an unhealthy lifestyle.

Contribution

The study is the first to investigate the combined effects of noise exposure, genetic risk, and lifestyle on Type 2 diabetes in a large population.

Findings

Prolonged workplace noise exposure is associated with a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Combining noise exposure with an unhealthy lifestyle significantly increases diabetes risk.

High genetic risk alone does not lead to the highest diabetes risk without noise exposure.

Abstract

We aimed to explore the relationship of noise exposure in the workplace, genetic risk, and lifestyle with Type 2 diabetes (T2D).

A total of 154,708 participants without T2D in UK Biobank were included. A lifestyle score was determined using smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, television viewing time, sleep duration, and diet.

During a median follow-up of 11.83 years (1,776,919.62 person-years), 5921 T2D cases were observed. Compared to no noise exposure, the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were 1.06 (0.95–1.18) in less than a year, 1.01 (0.91–1.12) in around 1–5 years, and 1.11 (1.04–1.20) in more than 5 years, respectively. Compared to participants with low genetic risk and no noise exposure, individuals with high genetic risk and noise exposure for more than 5 years did not show the highest risk of T2D (HR = 1.16, 95%CI = 0.98–1.36). However, participants with the least healthy lifestyle and noise exposure for more than 5 years revealed a higher risk of T2D (HR = 1.72, 95%CI = 1.27–2.33).

Prolonged noise exposure in the workplace is related to a higher risk of T2D.

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