The carotid intima-Media Thickness in Workers with High and Low Exposure to Air Pollution

The exposure to chronic air pollution is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality through atherosclerosis acceleration and progression. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is an important subclinical sign of atherosclerosis.

To analyze the difference of CIMT between chemical industry workers with high and low exposure to air pollution.

There were 66 male subjects who consisted of 33 chemical industry workers in the production division and other 33 non-industry workers who have worked for more than 1 year. The subjects underwent the examination of CIMT in left and right carotid artery.

The mean of left CIMT test was 0.97 ± 0.08 mm in industry workers and 0.75 ± 0.15 mm in office workers. The mean of left CIMT test was 1.01 ± 0.09 mm in industry workers and 0.72 ± 0.10 mm in office workers. On the other hand, the mean of left and right CIMT test was 0.99 ± 0.07 mm in industry workers and 0.74 ± 0.11 mm in office workers. The difference analysis of left CIMT between two groups was examined by using unpaired t-test. There was no significant difference of CIMT value between subjects who worked in industry and office (p < 0.05; 9% CI 0.16–0.28). On the other hand, the difference analysis between left CIMT and the mean of left and right CIMT was measured by Mann-Whitney test. The results showed that there was a significant difference between two groups (p< 0.05).

There was no significant difference between subjects with high and low exposure to air pollution (p < 0.05).