Correlation Between Duration of Occupational Exposure and Serum Cortisol Levels among Textile Mill Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Rapid industrialization has emerged as a defining character of modern economic growth. Noise is considered one of the most common occupational hazards. Cortisol is a hormone which is secreted as a response to stress. So, this study was done to evaluate serum cortisol levels and determine their correlation with the duration of noise exposure among textile mill workers. Materials and methods: A Cross-sectional study was conducted in an autoloom-textile mill among their workers. The study group was divided into three groups – Control (n=30), Day shift workers (n = 30) and night shift workers (n = 30). Serum cortisol was measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) method. Results: One- way ANOVA test revealed a statistically significant difference in mean serum cortisol levels among the three groups (F = 13.60, p < 0.001). Post-hoc analysis using the Tukey test demonstrated that the mean serum cortisol levels were significantly lower in Group 1 compared to Group 2 (p = 0.0005) and Group 3 (p < 0.001). Serum cortisol levels showed a significant positive correlation with duration of noise exposure in all the subjects (r = 0.28, 95% CI: 0.08-0.45, p = 0.008). This dose-response relationship was strongest in Day shift workers (r = 0.41, p = 0.025) and borderline significant in Night shift workers (r = 0.35, p = 0.056), but absent in Controls (r = 0.12, p = 0.53). Conclusion: Chronic noise exposure in textile mill induces significant Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation (F=13.60, p