Journal Article

Hypertension and Exposure to Noise near Airports: The HYENA Study

Seiffert, Ingeburg, Bluhm, Gösta, Dimakopoulou, Konstantina, Katsouyanni, Klea, Vigna-Taglianti, Federica, Selander, Jenny, Houthuijs, Danny, Breugelmans, Oscar, Jarup, Lars, Dudley, Marie-Louise, Swart, Wim, Cadum, Ennio, Savigny, Pauline, Babisch, Wolfgang, Pershagen, Göran, Haralabidis, Alexandros, Sourtzi, Panayota, Velonakis, Manolis

2008

Overview

Background: An increasing number of people are exposed to aircraft and road traffic noise. Hypertension is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and even a small contribution in risk from environmental factors may have a major impact on public health. Objectives: The HYENA (Hypertension and Exposure to Noise near Airports) study aimed to assess the relations between noise from aircraft or road traffic near airports and the risk of hypertension. Methods: We measured blood pressure and collected data on health, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors, including diet and physical activity, via questionnaire at home visits for 4,861 persons 45-70 years of age, who had lived at least 5 years near any of six major European airports. We assessed noise exposure using detailed models with a resolution of 1 dB (5 dB for United Kingdom road traffic noise), and a spatial resolution of 250 x 250 m for aircraft and 10 x 10 m for road traffic noise. Results: We found significant exposure-response relationships between night-time aircraft as well as average daily road traffic noise exposure and risk of hypertension after adjustment for major confounders. For night-time aircraft noise, a 10-dB increase in exposure was associated with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.14 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.01-1.29]. The exposure-response relationships were similar for road traffic noise and stronger for men with an OR of 1.54 (95% CI, 0.99-2.40) in the highest exposure category (> 65 dB; $P_{{\\rm{trend}}} = \\,0.008$ = 0.008). Conclusions: Our results indicate excess risks of hypertension related to long-term noise exposure, primarily for night-time aircraft noise and daily average road traffic noise.

• Publisher: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. National Institutes of Health. Department of Health, Education and Welfare,National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
• Subject: Aged / Aircraft / Aircraft noise / Airports / Blood Pressure / Cardiovascular diseases / Diagnosis / Environmental aspects / Environmental Exposure - adverse effects / Environmental factors / Environmental risk / Europe - epidemiology / Exercise / Female / Health aspects / Health Behavior / Health Status / Humans / Hypertension / Hypertension - epidemiology / Hypertension - etiology / Information retrieval noise / Life Style / Male / Middle Aged / Motor Vehicles / Noise - adverse effects / Noise barriers / Noise pollution / Public health / Risk factors / Roads / Socioeconomic Factors / Time Factors / Traffic / Transportation noise