Abstract
BackgroundStudies have demonstrated that noise is associated with various health problems, such as obesity and hypertension. Although the evidence of the associations of noise with obesity and hypertension is inconsistent, there seems to be a stronger association of the latter. This study aimed to investigate the associations of noise with body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure in adults living in multi-story residential buildings.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Hong Kong from February 2018 to September 2019. The Weinstein Noise Sensitivity Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, ENRICHD Social Support Instrument, Patient Health Questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were administered to the participants. BMI and blood pressure were assessed. Nocturnal noise exposure and total sleep duration were measured for a week.ResultsFive hundred adults (66.4% female), with an average age of 39 years (range: 18–80), completed the study. The average levels of nocturnal noise, BMI, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were 51.3 dBA, 22.2 kg/m2, 116.0 mmHg, and 75.4 mmHg, respectively. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, nocturnal noise was associated with BMI (b = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.01 to 1.06, p = 0.045) and SBP (b = 2.90, 95% CI: 1.12 to 4.68, p = 0.001). No association was detected between nocturnal noise and DBP (b = 0.79, 95% CI: − 0.56 to 2.13, p = 0.253). Specifically, higher nocturnal noise was associated with higher BMI (b = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.07 to 1.38, p = 0.031) and SBP (b = 3.91, 95% CI: 2.51 to 5.31, p < 0.001) in females but only higher SBP (b = 3.13, 95% CI: 1.35 to 4.92, p < 0.001) in males. The association between noise and SBP remained significant (b = 2.41, 95% CI: 0.62 to 4.20, p = 0.008) after additionally adjusting for lifestyle, diagnosis of hypertension, psychometric constructs, and sleep.ConclusionsIndoor nocturnal noise was associated with BMI and blood pressure in females but only blood pressure in males. It is important to control nocturnal noise or use soundproofing materials in buildings to reduce noise exposure.
Highlights
Studies have demonstrated that noise is associated with various health problems, such as obesity and hypertension
Associations of nocturnal noise with body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure Unadjusted effects of per 10 dBA increase of nocturnal noise exposure level on BMI, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were 0.61 kg/m2, 3.03 mmHg, and 0.68 mmHg, respectively
We demonstrated that an increase in nocturnal noise exposure measured over one week was associated with higher BMI and blood pressure in the daytime
Summary
Studies have demonstrated that noise is associated with various health problems, such as obesity and hypertension. The evidence of the associations of noise with obesity and hypertension is inconsistent, there seems to be a stronger association of the latter. Cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes of noise, e.g., hypertension, ischemic heart diseases, stroke, diabetes, and obesity, have been reported to be associated with noise exposure in some studies, as summarized by Kempen et al [1]. Despite that there was no sufficient evidence of a threshold for the effect of noise on obesity, there might be a threshold around 45–50 dB (Lden) in the association between noise and waist circumference (WC) [4]. Hypertension and obesity are risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the leading cause of death globally [5,6,7]. Increases in weight, body mass index (BMI), WC, waistto-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-height ratio were associated with a higher incidence of hypertension [9, 10]
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