Long-Term Residential Exposure to Environmental Noise and Cardiovascular Disease Onset: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiovascular effects of environmental noise are a growing concern. However, the evidence remains largely limited to the association between road traffic noise and hypertension and ischemic diseases especially myocardial infarction (MI).Objective: To examine associations between long-term residential exposure to total environmental noise and the onset of cardiovascular MI and strokes in adults of the Island of Montreal.Methods: An open cohort of 1,087,806 adults aged ≥ 45 years, free of MI and strokes before entering the cohort was created for the years 2000 to 2014 with the Quebec Integrated Chronic Disease Surveillance System, a systematic surveillance system from the second most populous province in Canada starting in 1996. The exposure to total environmental noise (LAeq24h) at cohort entry was estimated with a Land Use Regression (LUR) model. Onsets of MI and strokes were based on one hospital admission. Cox models were used to estimate associations.Results: We found positive associations between Laeq24h estimated and the occurrence of MI and strokes; hazard ratios adjusted for age, sex, year of entry, social and material deprivation indexes and traffic-related air pollutant (nitrogen dioxide) were respectively 1.10 (95% CI: 1.07-1.13) and 1.06 (95% CI: 1.03-1.09) per 10 dBA.Conclusion: These results suggest that total environmental noise is associated with the onset of MI and strokes. Future work should clarify if associations vary by noise sources, and if pre-existing diseases (e.g. hypertension) mediate such effects.