Long-term traffic noise exposure elevates incidence of diabetes, hypertension
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Noise from road traffic in Toronto was associated with elevated incidence of diabetes and hypertension, especially in women and adults younger than 60 years, according to research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Among participants with no history of diabetes or hypertension, for every interquartile range increase in continuous A-weighted sound pressure level (10 dBA) during a 24-hour day, the noise conferred an 8% increase in incident diabetes (95% CI, 1.07-1.09) and a 2% increase in hypertension (95% CI, 1.01-1.03). These findings were similar for traffic noise exposure between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. and remained consistent after adjustment for related air pollutants such as ultrafine particles and nitrogen dioxide.
“Given the increasing urban populations worldwide, increasing public awareness of the harmful health effects from traffic noise is important, because people may not have to be aware of the noise around them, and yet chronic exposure to noise can inflict an impact on their health,” Hong Chen, PhD, research scientist at Health Canada and adjunct scientist at ICES, Toronto, Canada, told Healio. “People living in a noisy area can seek ways to reduce personal level exposures such as installing soundproof windows and spending more time in a quiet side of the residence.”
Prevalence in women, younger adults
Compared with men, women experienced greater incidence of diabetes (HR = 1.1; 95% CI, 1.09-1.11; vs. HR = 1.06; 95% CI, 1.04-1.07) and hypertension (HR = 1.04; 95% CI, 1.03-1.05; vs. HR = 1; 95% CI, 0.99-1.01) associated with traffic noise (P for interaction < .001).
In addition, participants younger than 60 years experienced a higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension associated with traffic noise compared with adults aged 60 to 74 years and those aged at least 75 years (P for interaction < .001):
- diabetes: HR for younger than 60 years = 1.1; 95% CI, 1.09-1.11; HR for 60 to 74 years = 1.03; 95% CI, 1.02-1.04; HR for 75 years or older = 1.06; 95% CI, 1.04-1.08; and
- hypertension: HR for younger than 60 years = 1.04; 95% CI, 1.03-1.05; HR for 60 to 74 years = 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-1; HR for 75 years or older = 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-1).
“Among the selected subgroups we considered, individuals who were younger (aged < 60 years) were at an increased risk of diabetes mellitus and hypertension from exposure to road traffic noise,” the researchers wrote. “The differences could be caused by age-related hearing loss, as typically it is more difficult for relatively older individuals to detect noise, and the varying degrees of stress people of different age groups experience from noise.
“Our observation that noise exposure was more strongly associated with cardiometabolic disease among individuals who are women and younger, separately, suggests that menopause might play a modifying role,” the researchers wrote.
For this retrospective, population-based cohort study, researchers assessed long-term residents of Toronto with provincial publicly funded insurance and no history of diabetes or hypertension with the aim of determining the effect of long-term exposure to noise from road traffic on cardiometabolic health. Noise exposure level was analyzed by the equivalent continuous dBA for the 24-hour day and the equivalent continuous dBA between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. Residents were followed up for 15 years.
Research needed
“Further elucidating the health effects of noise, such as identifying whether there is a threshold under which there is no increased risk of hypertension and diabetes in association with noise, is important from the intervention perspective,” Hong said in an interview. “In addition, there is currently a lack of high-quality invention studies that evaluated the effectiveness of various mitigation measures to reduce noise-related health impacts in the real-world settings.
“This study underscores the need for public health efforts to reduce emission levels at sources and help foster changes in behavior of the population over time (eg, increasing use of car-sharing or active public transport), which can lead to other co-benefits, which together can contribute to better health and well-being and a healthier city overall,” Hong told Healio. – by Scott Buzby
For more information
Hong Chen, PhD, can be reached at hong.chen@canada.ca.
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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