Urban traffic noise and myocardial infarction risk

Exposure to noise constitutes a health risk. This study attempted to determine association between urban traffic noise in residential area and myocardial infarction (MI) incidence. We conducted an ecological study among 25-64-year-old men in the general population of Kaunas city. We measured traffic-related noise levels at the 117 electoral districts and linked these levels to residential addresses using Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques. In daytime period traffic-related noise emission fluctuated between 58 dB(A) to 82 dB(A). The age-adjusted MI incidence per 1,000 increased by increasing noise exposure. The MI incidence tended to increase from 2.07 in the 1st (lowest) exposure area to 2.57 in the 4th (highest) exposure area. Risk ratio was 1.33; 95 % confidence interval - 0.76-2.32). Our results indicate that traffic noise may contribute to increased MI riskAplinkotyros katedraGamtos mokslų fakultetasKauno medicinos universiteto Kardiologijos institutasVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij