Age modifies the association between occupational noise exposure duration and lipid metabolism: a cross-sectional study

Occupational noise exposure is associated with cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, but age’s modifying effect on lipid metabolism is unclear. This study evaluated the association between noise exposure duration and lipid profiles and explored age’s modifying role. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 765 male workers exposed to occupational noise. The lipid profiles of the subjects were measured, including the total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG). In multivariate linear regression models, natural log-transformed lipid indices were used as dependent variables, adjusted for body mass index, current smoking, and current alcohol consumption. To model the interaction between noise exposure duration and age, the age was centered at the mean (40.0 years). Marginal effects were calculated to interpret the interaction. In sensitivity analysis, modified Poisson regression was used to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) for dyslipidemia. The interaction between noise exposure duration and centered age was significant for both TC ( p for interaction = 0.008) and TG ( p for interaction = 0.033). An age-dependent pattern was observed whereby the effects of noise exposure duration were attenuated as age increased. Specifically, at the representative age of 30, each year of noise exposure was associated with a 0.74% increase in TC and a 2.94% increase in TG. Conversely, at the representative age of 50, the effects were negligible (TC: − 0.31%; TG: 0.13%). The sensitivity analysis, employing modified Poisson regression, supported these findings and confirmed a significant interaction between noise exposure duration and centered age ( p = 0.039). At the representative age of 30, the PR for dyslipidemia per year of noise exposure was 1.042 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.011–1.074), whereas the association was non-significant at the representative age of 50 (PR = 0.989, 95% CI 0.963–1.016). Age modifies the association between occupational noise exposure duration and lipid profiles, with a more pronounced correlation observed among younger workers, highlighting the potential need for targeted early interventions.