Socioeconomic inequalities in burden of disease due to traffic noise in the Nordic countries

Abstract

Environmental noise is the second largest environmental risk factor in disease burden estimates for Europe. While socioeconomic inequalities in noise exposure have been reported, the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on the disease burden attributable to noise exposure has to our knowledge not been reported previously. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of SES on traffic noise exposure and the associated disease burden in selected Nordic populations. We employed nationwide data on road traffic noise exposure and SES from Danish and Norwegian Nationwide Models. The impact of household income and education on traffic noise exposure was assessed using linear regression analyses. Burden of disease estimates were calculated for populations stratified according to their level of income and education in terms of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY) for high degree of noise annoyance, high degree of sleep disturbance and ischaemic heart disease. The most consistent finding observed for the Danish population was that, compared to medium and low household income, high household income was associated with lower noise exposure. Moreover, the burden of disease estimates for high noise annoyance were up to 20% lower in the high compared to the lower household income groups.