Association between transportation noise and cardiovascular disease: a meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies among adult populations from 1980 to 2010.

Abstract

It is hypothesized that exposure to transportation noise is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease among adult population. The present study further explores this association in the light of new findings. The objective of this study was to perform a meta-analysis of studies reported during the last 3 decades on the association of transportation noise exposure with cardiovascular disease endpoints among adult population in cross-sectional studies. Relative risks were pooled from 12 studies by using an inverse-variance weighted fixed-effects model. The cardiovascular health outcomes included ischemic heart disease, myocardial infraction, angina pectoris, electrocardiogram-ischemia and cardiovascular medication. The pooled risk estimate (95% confidence interval) of 1.04 (0.96-1.12), shows a positive but nonsignificant association. The sensitivity analysis, conducted by excluding studies one by one, resulted in a positive and significant risk estimate. Contrary to the earlier meta-analysis, this study observed heterogeneity among subgroups and produced significant positive results to show that there exists an association between air traffic noise exposure and cardiovascular disease. It was also observed that the risk of cardiovascular disease due to exposure to transportation noise has increase to significant levels over the last 30 years. It can be concluded that though the association between transportation noise exposure and cardiovascular disease is evident, but not at a significant level. This study although provides evidence that air traffic noise is a serious cause of concern.