Abstract
Environmental noise may play a role in the manifestation and severity of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, but evidence is limited. We investigated the cross-sectional associations between residential and school road traffic noise exposure and ADHD symptoms and diagnosis. The sample included n = 1710, 10–12-year-old children from the TRAILS study in The Netherlands. ADHD symptoms were measured using a DSM-IV based subscale from the Child Behavior Checklist. Children with diagnosed ADHD originated from the clinic-referred cohort. Road traffic noise (Lden) was estimated at the residence and school level, by model calculation. Risk ratios for ADHD symptoms and ADHD diagnoses, and regression coefficients for symptom severity were estimated separately and simultaneously for residential and school road traffic noise. Adjusted multinomial models with residential road traffic noise showed that residential noise was not associated with ADHD symptoms, but was associated with lower risks for ADHD diagnosis (RR = 0.93; 95% CI 0.89, 0.97). Similar associations were observed for models including school road traffic noise and models including both exposures. No clear exposure response relationship was observed for associations between residential or school noise and ADHD symptom severity. We found no evidence for a harmful association between road traffic noise and ADHD. Associations between noise and lower risks for ADHD were observed only in referred cases with a confirmed ADHD diagnosis and may be due to residual confounding or selection bias. Future studies should focus on residential and school noise exposure, and study associations with ADHD symptoms and diagnosis over time.
Highlights
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with symptoms continuing into adulthood [1, 2]
Children who screened positive for ADHD symptoms from the population cohort had parents with lower socioeconomic status (SES), had mothers who were younger during childbirth, and had more often parents that smoked during pregnancy compared to children without ADHD from the population cohort and those with ADHD diagnosis from the clinical cohort
Children with an ADHD diagnosis from the clinical cohort had less often a parent that was born outside The Netherlands and had more often parents with a history of psychopathology compared to the other children
Summary
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with symptoms continuing into adulthood [1, 2]. A large cohort study performed in 46,940 children from Denmark found that a 10 decibel increase in road traffic noise exposure from birth to age 7 was associated with a 9% increase in borderline and abnormal hyperactivity/inattention subscale scores [7]. Most of the previous research solely assessed ADHD symptoms and not clinical diagnosis They further focused on residential road traffic noise alone, while children spend a large part of their day at school. To address these gaps, we investigated the associations between residential and school road traffic noise exposure (separately and simultaneously) and ADHD symptoms and diagnosis
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