NoiseExposure , Noise Sensitivity and Psychological Distress in Workers of a Textile Industry, Iran (2022)

Background: noise pollution is one of the known harmful factors in workplaces. noise can have different psychological consequences. noise annoyance (na) and noise sensitivity (ns) are seen as mediators in the study of noise impacts. the present study was conducted to investigate the association between na and ns with psychological distress (pd).materials and methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted among 115 textile workers. the sampling method was stratified random sampling. noise exposure (ne) was determined by a noise dosimeter. na, ns, and pd were assessed using noise annoyance scale (nas), weinstein's noise sensitivity scale (wnss), and kessler psychological distress scale, respectively. data analysis was performed in spss-22 software.results: the median (interquartile range) of na was equal to 7 (3). the mean (standard deviation) of ns was equal to 66.33 (15.76). the results showed that there is a positive and significant association between equivalent sound level, and pd (p=0.01, r = 0.23). the results of our study showed that pd had a significant difference in diverse levels of na (p=0.01) and ns (p<0.001).conclusion: in general, the annoyance caused by na and ns can affect people's pd. therefore, it is suggested to pay attention to these factors in studying the consequences of noise exposure.