To determine the association between occupational factors, particularly psychosocial factors, and hypertension.

Descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study using logistic multivariate regression.

Fifteen cotton ginning plants in Benin.

Permanent and occasional workers in the cotton ginning industry.

Data on sociodemographic, occupational, behavioural and clinical history characteristics were collected using a number of standardised, interviewer-administered questionnaires. These questionnaires were based on the WHO’s non-communicable disease questionnaire, Karasek questionnaire and Siegrist questionnaire. Weight, height and blood pressure were measured. Any worker with systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mm Hg according to the WHO criteria was considered hypertensive, as was any subject on antihypertensive treatment even if blood pressure was normal.

A total of 1883 workers were included, with a male to female ratio of 9.08. Of these, 510 suffered from hypertension (27.1%, 95% CI 25.1 to 29.2). In the multivariate analysis, the risk factors identified were occupational stress (adjusted OR (aOR)=3.96, 95% CI 1.28 to 12.2), age ≥25 years (aOR=2.77, 95% CI 1.55 to 4.96), body mass index of 25–30 kg/m² (aOR=1.71, 95% CI 1.32 to 2.2), body mass index >30 kg/m² (aOR=2.74, 95% CI 1.84 to 4.09), permanent worker status (aOR=1.66, 95% CI 1.44 to 2.41) and seniority in the textile sector >5 years (aOR=2.18, 95% CI 1.7 to 2.8). Recognition at work emerged as an effect-modifying factor subject to stratification.

Occupational factors, particularly job strain and recognition at work, are modifiable factors associated with hypertension in the ginning plants sector and deserve to be corrected through occupational health promotion and prevention.

Hearing loss is one of the leading potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia. There is growing evidence suggesting that treating hearing loss with hearing aids could be a relatively low-cost intervention in reducing cognitive decline and the risk of dementia in the long term. However, given the current constraints of the limited evidence, it is premature to draw definitive conclusions about the effect of hearing aids on cognitive functioning. More long-term randomised studies examining this effect would be recommended. Prior to embarking on large-scale lengthy randomised controlled trials (RCTs), it is imperative to determine the viability of such studies. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to assess the feasibility of a RCT that investigates the effect of hearing aids on cognitive functioning in elderly hearing impaired individuals.

In this randomised controlled feasibility trial, 24 individuals aged 65 years or older with mild to moderate hearing loss (≥35–

This research protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University Medical Centre Utrecht (NL80594.041.22, V.3, January 2023). The trial results will be made accessible to the public in a peer-reviewed journal.

ISRCTN84550071.