Association of indoor noise level with depression in hotel workers: A multicenter study from 111 China's cities

The relationship between indoor airborne culturable bacteria with passenger flow in 132 traffic stations during 2019-2020, China

This study aims to provide technical support for the development of a rational administration strategy for indoor environment and passenger flow of stations. The analysis was conducted monitor data of long distance bus stations and train/high speed railway stations from the National project. The monitor and surveyed data included indoor airborne culturable bacteria (IAB), passenger flow, area and height of stations. Data analysis involved the use of paired non-parametric tests, correlation analysis, and mixed linear regression methods. A total of 132 pairs of stations were examined in this study. Additionally, significant variations were observed in the monitoring results for the IAB and passenger flow between 2019 and 2020 (p < 0.05). Specifically, the median values of these two factors in 2020 decreased by 50.52% and 48.33%, respectively, compared to 2019. (p < 0.05). A positive relationship between the daily average passenger flow and the IAB in long distance bus stations and train stations, particularly pronounced with medium sized waiting rooms, which located in subtropical cities with a general level of economic development. The mixed effect regression analysis revealed a significant association between passenger flow (OR = 1.564, 1.288-1.898), per capita volume (OR = 0.856, 0.733-0.998), and per capita area (OR = 0.806, 0.678-0.956) with the IAB (p < 0.05) just in long distance bus stations. It is crucial to regulate passenger flow and per capita area in the waiting room of long distance bus stations to mitigate the spread of airborne culturable bacteria during infectious disease epidemics.

Depressive symptoms of people living in areas with high exposure to environmental noise: a multilevel analysis

Exposure and damage caused by noise have been reported in many countries around the world. However, few nationwide studies explored the association of residential environmental noise with depressive symptoms, this study aims to examine this association. The Korean Community Health Survey at the individual-level and the Korean Environmental Noise Measurement Database at the regional-level were used. A total of 30,630 individuals were eligible for the analysis. Multilevel model framework was applied to account for the clustered structure of the regional-level data in which individual-level data containing demographic characteristics and health information were nested. As a result of the analysis, Individuals living in the highest environmental noise area had a 1.55 times higher likelihood of experiencing depressive symptoms than those living in the lowest environmental noise area (95% CI, 1.04-2.31). After stratified analysis according to depressive symptom severity, individuals residing in areas with the highest environmental noise exposure had significantly higher odds of mild (aOR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.02-2.07) and moderate symptoms (aOR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.00-2.91). In conclusion, the higher the residential environmental noise, the higher the possibility of mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest the need for continued attention to and management of noise pollution, which has the potential to adversely affect individual's mental health.

Application of Noise Reduction Earplugs in Patients undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND

Patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) need to tolerate the effects of noise.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 167 TKA patients at The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from April 2019 to April 2021. A total of 154 patients who met inclusion criteria were divided into the conventional noise reduction management group (CMG) and the noise reduction earplug group (EPG), following different management schemes. The CMG received routine noise reduction management after surgery, while the EPG used noise reduction earplugs based on the CMG. The clinical indexes of the two groups were compared.

RESULTS

In this study, 79 patients were included in the CMG, and 75 patients were included in the EPG. The results showed that the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores of both groups 2 weeks after surgery were significantly lower than those before management (ZEPG = 5.995, ZCMG = 4.109, all P < 0.001), and the EPG exhibited a significantly lower PSQI score than the CMG (Z = -2.442, P < 0.05). Two weeks after surgery, the EPG had significantly lower levels of systolic blood pressure (ZSBP = -4.303) and diastolic blood pressure (ZDBP = -3.115), as well as lower scores on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety (HADS-A; ZHADS-A = -7.140) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression (HADS-D; ZHADS-D = -4.545) compared to the CMG (all P < 0.05). In addition, no significant correlation existed between the duration of wearing earplugs and the HADS-A and HADS-D scores (r = -0.201, r = -0.002, P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Noise reduction earplugs can improve sleep quality and regulate negative emotions of patients undergoing TKA treatment through a complex mechanism involving noise, which is beneficial to the prognosis of the disease.