Associations of road traffic noise with cardiovascular diseases and mortality: Longitudinal results from UK Biobank and meta-analysis

Background: Epidemiological evidence suggests potential associations of road traffic noise exposure with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality, but uncertainty remains. Objectives: We examined the association of road traffic noise with the risk of CVD and mortality in a large longitudinal cohort study and meta-analysis. Methods: We analyzed 342, 566 participants from the UK Biobank who were free of CVD at baseline and had complete covariate data. We also performed a meta-analysis of road traffic noise effects on CVD and mortality by including qualified cohort studies published before April 2021. Results: After adjustment for potential confounders, the odds for the risk of stroke, CVD, and all-cause mortality increased by 1.07 (95%CI: 1.01–1.13, P = 0.019), 1.13 (95%CI: 1.04–1.22, P = 0.003) and 1.08 (95%CI: 1.04–1.12, P < 0.001) times per 10 dB increases in road traffic noise, respectively. Among men, high road traffic noise exposure was significantly associated with an increased risk in stroke (HR = 1.08 per 10 dB increase, 95%CI: 1.00–1.16, P = 0.043), CVD (HR = 1.12 per 10 dB increase, 95%CI: 1.02–1.23, P = 0.020) and all-cause mortality (HR = 1.12 per 10 dB increase, 95%CI: 1.07–1.17 P < 0.001), whereas we did not find a significant association in women. The meta-analysis showed that road traffic noise exposure was significantly associated with a high risk of stroke (risk ratio [RR]: 1.06, 95% CI: 1.02–1.11), CVD mortality (RR: 1.03, 95% CI: 1.00–1.05), all-cause mortality (RR: 1.05, 95% CI: 1.02–1.07). Conclusions: This study provides more evidence of increased risk of stroke, CVD, and all-cause mortality in association with exposure to road traffic noise pollution, especially in men.