Heart disease and stroke in relation to aircraft noise and road traffic noise – the HYENA Study

Relatively few studies have examined relationships between noise and cardiovascular disease other than hypertension. Methods: Cross-sectional associations between self-reported ‘heart disease and stroke’ and road traffic and aircraft noise were examined using data from 4712 participants (276 cases) who lived near airports in six European countries collected as part of the Hypertension and Environmental Noise near Airports (HYENA) study. Data were available to assess potential confounding by NO2 air pollution in three countries. Results: ‘Heart disease and stroke’ were associated with 24 hour average road traffic noise exposure (adjusted OR: 1.19 (95% CI 1.00, 1.41) per 10dB) in the six country analysis, but adjustment for NO2 in the subsample suggested this may have been due to confounding by air pollution. An association with night-time average aircraft noise was found for participants who had lived in the same place for ≥ 20 years (OR: 1.25 (1.03, 1.51)); this did not appear to be confounded by air pollution. Statistical assessment (correlations and variance inflation factor) suggested a modest collinearity between noise and NO2 exposures. Conclusions: Findings were consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to transport noise increases risks of heart disease and stroke. Future studies should consider confounding by air pollution.