Residential Traffic And Noise Exposure And Myocardial Infarction Among Women

Abstract

Introduction. Epidemiological evidence links both residential traffic and noise to cardiovascular disease, though there is a lack of findings investigating those two exposures concomitantly. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the associations between exposure to residential traffic and noise and first myocardial infarction among able-bodied women in Kaunas, Lithuania. Methods. We conducted the population-based case-control study among 35-61 years old women in Kaunas, Lithuania in 2001-2005. Totally 368 myocardial infarction cases and 725 healthy controls were interviewed, using the standardized questionnaire, containing the information on socioeconomic position (education, occupation), environmental exposures perceived stress. Nitrogen dioxide was selected for analysis as an indicator of residential traffic-related air pollution. We measured traffic-related noise levels at the 117 electoral districts and linked these levels to residential addresses using Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques. In daytime period (10-12 hr, 10 min.) traffic-related noise emission fluctuated between 58 dB(A) to 82 dB(A) and about 18% of citizens were exposed to noise level exceeding 65 dB(A) in their residential district. The associations between residential traffic and noise exposure and first myocardial infarction were assessed in the logistic regression models. Results. The study results showed that after adjustment for age, socioeconomic status, smoking, arterial blood pressure, body mass index, stress status and subjective noise annoyance, the risk of myocardial infarction was higher for the women exposed to residential traffic and 70–75 dBA (OR=1.16; 95%CI 0.99-1.46) and to =75 dBA (OR=1.29; 95%CI 1.23-1.92) noise levels in the residential areas. Conclusions. Our results indicate a relationship between residential traffic and noise exposure and MI risk. However these findings may be attributable also to other environmental risk factors.