Abstract:

Objective To analyze the trend of disability-adjusted life years（DALYs） due to occupational noise-induced hearing loss in China from 2007 to 2021，providing data support for the next steps in occupational noise damage prevention and control. Methods Data on the age-standardized prevalence and DALY rates for hearing loss attributed to occupational noise among people aged 20 to 64 were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease（GBD） 2021 database for both global and Chinese populations. The estimated annual percentage change（EAPC） and its 95% confidence interval（CI） were calculated to assess trends in the disease burden. The Bayesian age-period-cohort（BAPC） model was used to analyze changes in age-standardized DALYs and to forecast disease trends from 2020 to 2030. Results From 2007 to 2021，the age-standardized prevalence of hearing loss attributed to occupational noise in China increased from 24 471.01 per 100 000 population to 25 252.67 per 100 000 population（EAPC= 0.258%，P<0.05）. The age-standardized DALY rate also rose from 561.24 per 100，000 to 582.15 per 100，000（EAPC=0.326%，P<0.05），with a growth rate higher than the global average. The BAPC model indicated that the risk of occupational noise-induced hearing loss in China increased with age from 2007 to 2021，with females experiencing a higher risk than males. Notably，the DALYs rates were significantly higher among those aged 20-<25 and 30-<40 years. Although the period-cohort trend showed a general decline，individuals born between 1947 and 1951 faced the highest disease risk，with relative risk（RR） values of 2.062（95%CI：1.703-2.496） for men and 1.848（95%CI：1.489-2.294） for women. However，disease burden projections still indicate a rising trend through 2030. Conclusion Since 2007，China has made significant progress in the prevention and control of occupational noise-induced hearing loss. However，young adults aged 20-<25 and 30-<40 remain high-risk groups requiring continued attention and protection. Future efforts should focus on collaborative prevention strategies across government，enterprises，and healthcare institutions to further reduce the burden of occupational noise-induced hearing loss.

Key words: Occupational noise, Hearing loss, BAPC model, Epidemiological characteristics, GBD