Abstract
While noise pollution from transportation has become an important public health problem, the relationships between different sources of traffic noise and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain inconclusive. A comprehensive meta-analysis was therefore conducted to quantitatively assess the effects of long-term exposure to road traffic, railway, and aircraft noise on CVDs and relevant subtypes. We systematically retrieved PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for articles published before April 4, 2022. Summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by the fixed- or random-effects models. In total, 23 articles were included in our meta-analysis. The risk of CVDs increased by 2% (RR 1.020, 95% CI 1.006–1.035) and 1.6% (RR 1.016, 95% CI 1.000–1.032) for every 10 dB increment of road traffic and aircraft noise. For CVD subtypes, the risk increased by 3.4% (1.034, 1.026–1.043) for stroke and 5% (1.050, 1.006–1.096) for heart failure with each 10 dB increment of road traffic noise; the risk of atrial fibrillation increased by 1.1% (1.011, 1.002–1.021) with each 10 dB increment of railway noise; and the risk increased by 1% (1.010, 1.003–1.017) for myocardial infarction, 2.7% (1.027, 1.004–1.050) for atrial fibrillation, and 2.3% (1.023, 1.016–1.030) for heart failure with each 10 dB increment in aircraft noise. Further, effects from road traffic, railway, and aircraft noise all followed positive linear trends with CVDs. Long-term exposure to traffic noise is positively related to the incidence risk of cardiovascular events, especially road traffic noise which significantly increases the risk of CVDs, stroke, and heart failure.
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Acknowledgments
We acknowledge all the authors and Prof. Dongsheng Hu for methodological advice and help to modify the manuscript. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 82073646, 81973152, 82103940, and 82273707), the Postdoctoral Research Foundation of China (grant no. 2021M692903), the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (grant nos. 2021A1515012503 and 2022A1515010503), the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (grant nos. JCYJ20210324093612032 and JCYJ20220818095818040), the Key R&D and promotion projects in Henan Province (grant no. 232102311017), and the Nanshan District Science and Technology Program Key Project of Shenzhen (grant no. NS2022009).
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Xueru Fu conceived, designed, and performed the work; Longkang Wang analyzed the data; Lijun Yuan, Huifang Hu, Tianze Li, Jinli Zhang, Yamin Ke, Mengmeng Wang, Yajuan Gao, Weifeng Huo, Yaobing Chen, Wenkai Zhang, Yang Zhao, Jiong Liu, Zelin Huang, Fulan Hu, Ming Zhang, Yu Liu, Xizhuo Sun, and Dongsheng Hu revised the manuscript.
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Highlights
1. Long-term exposure to traffic noise could increase the risk of CVDs.
2. Effects on CVDs of traffic noise from road, rail, and aircraft followed positive linear trends.
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Fu, X., Wang, L., Yuan, L. et al. Long-Term Exposure to Traffic Noise and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Diseases: a Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis. J Urban Health 100, 788–801 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-023-00769-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-023-00769-0