1Universitätsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz Zentrum für Kardiologie, Kardiologie I Mainz, Deutschland; 2Universitätsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz Kardiologie 1, Zentrum für Kardiologie Mainz, Deutschland; 3Universitätsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz Zentrum für Kardiologie Mainz, Deutschland; 4Universitätsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz Präventive Kardiologie und Medizinische Prävention Mainz, Deutschland
Introduction
The relationship between noise annoyance and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) still needs to be fully elucidated. Thus, we examined the relationship between noise annoyance and CVD risk in a large population-based cohort study.
Methods
Cross-sectional (N=15,010, aged 35 to 74 years, baseline investigation period 2007 to 2012) and prospective data (5- and 10-year follow-up from 2012 to 2022) from the Gutenberg Health Study were used to examine the relationship between noise annoyance due to different sources and risk of prevalent and incident CVD comprising atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, stroke, chronic heart failure, peripheral artery disease, and venous thromboembolism.
Results
In cross-sectional analyses, noise annoyance was an independent risk factor for prevalent CVD, with the strongest associations seen for noise annoyance during sleep (e.g., neighborhood noise annoyance: odds ratio 1.20, 95% confidence interval 1.13-1.27, p <0.0001). While in the 10-year follow-up, mostly positive associations (although not significant) between noise annoyance and incident CVD were observed, no indication of increased CVD risk was observed after 5 years of follow-up.
Conclusions
Noise annoyance due to different sources was associated with prevalent CVD, whereas only weak associations with incident CVD were found. Further large-scale studies are needed to establish the relationship between noise annoyance and risk of CVD.