Occupational exposure to noise and depression incidence: a nationwide cohort study of workers in Denmark, 2000-2017.

Authors

Anne Marie Kirkegaard, Aslak Harbo Poulsen, Zara Ann Stokholm, Henrik Albert Kolstad, Lau Caspar Thygesen, Jenny Selander, Karin Sørig Hougaard, Ida E H Madsen, Mette Sørensen

Published in

Occupational and environmental medicine. Aug 11, 2026. Epub Aug 11, 2026.

Abstract

Research on the association between occupational noise and incident depression is limited. We investigated whether long-term occupational noise was associated with depression risk, both independently and in combination with other stress-related factors.
In a Danish nationwide register-based cohort of 2 424 542 workers aged 25-64 years, individual-level occupational histories were linked to noise exposure using a job exposure matrix. Noise exposure was aggregated as 5-year running means. During follow-up from 2000 to 2017, 142 370 women and 119 900 men developed incident depression, identified through hospital and prescription registers. HRs were estimated using Cox models with adjustment for individual and area-level factors. Subgroup analyses assessed effect modification by stress-related factors.
A 10 dBA higher 5-year mean occupational noise (≥65 dBA) was associated with HRs (95% CIs) of 1.09 (1.07 to 1.12) for women and 1.13 (1.10 to 1.15) for men aged 25-39 years and 1.09 (1.04 to 1.14) for women aged 40-64 years. Higher risks were mainly observed among workers with low education, low to median income, blue-collar jobs or financial stress. Among men aged 40-64 years, the corresponding HR was 0.98 (0.97 to 1.00), with inverse associations mainly observed among those with high income, white-collar occupations and no financial stress.
Long-term exposure to occupational noise seemed associated with higher depression risk among women as well as men younger than 40 years. Associations were mainly observed among workers of low socioeconomic status, suggesting that noise reduction may be particularly relevant for prevention in vulnerable worker groups.

PMID:
42580889
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 12 Aug 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.