Gesundheitswesen 2017; 79(08/09): 656-804
DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1605744
Vorträge
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Combined traffic noise exposure from different sources: is the whole more than the sum of its parts?

A Seidler
1   TU Dresden, Medizinische Fakultät, Institut und Poliklinik für Arbeits- und Sozialmedizin, Dresden
,
J Hegewald
1   TU Dresden, Medizinische Fakultät, Institut und Poliklinik für Arbeits- und Sozialmedizin, Dresden
,
AL Seidler
1   TU Dresden, Medizinische Fakultät, Institut und Poliklinik für Arbeits- und Sozialmedizin, Dresden
2   University of Syndney, MHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, Systematic Reviews & Health Technology Assessment, Sydney
,
M Schubert
1   TU Dresden, Medizinische Fakultät, Institut und Poliklinik für Arbeits- und Sozialmedizin, Dresden
,
H Zeeb
3   Leibniz-Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology – BIPS GmbH, Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Bremen
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
01 September 2017 (online)

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Background/Aim:

Many people are simultaneously exposed to several sources of traffic noise. Simple adding of sound pressure levels might not adequately reflect the cardiovascular risks. In a large secondary-data based case-control study, we analyzed the combined effect of simultaneous exposure to different sources of traffic noise.

Methods:

Address-specific exposure to aircraft, road and railway traffic noise in 2005 was estimated for individuals that were insured by three large statutory health insurance funds in the Rhine-Main area of Germany. Based on insurance claims and prescription data, 122,213 cases with newly diagnosed cardiovascular disease (CVD; including myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, and hypertensive heart disease) diagnosed between 2006 and 2010 were identified and compared with 596,462 control subjects. We applied the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) to compare the adequacy of different models describing combination effects of aircraft, road and railway traffic noise.

Results:

Multiplication of risks for road, railway and aircraft noise fitted the (linear) exposure-risk relationship considerably better than a model based on simple addition of sound pressure levels (Δ AIC =-14). For instance, applying a risk-multiplying approach, we found the highest CVD risk increase of 22% for a simultaneous exposure to 71.2 dB road traffic noise (24-h-sound level), 80.7 dB railway noise and 47.0 dB aircraft noise. The corresponding CVD risk increase for a sound-pressure addition model would be only 12.5% in this example (based on a statistically significant risk increase of 2.9% per 10 dB, starting point 40 dB).

Conclusions:

Cardiovascular risks of combined exposure to different sources of traffic noise seem to be considerably higher than it would be expected from simple adding of sound pressure levels. Noise protection measures should take into account the combination effects of simultaneous exposure to different sources of traffic noise.