Noise exposure and children's blood pressure and heart rate: The RANCH-project

Elise Van Kempen ^1*, Irene Van Kamp ², Paul Fischer ², Hugh Davies ³, Danny Houthuijs ², Rebecca Stellato ², Charlotte Clark ³ and Stephen Stansfeld ³

¹ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Netherlands
² National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Environmental Health Research, Netherlands
³ Centre for Psychiatry, Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: elise.van.kempen{at}rivm.nl.

Accepted 18 May 2006

Abstract

Objectives: Conclusions that can be drawn from earlier studies on noise and children’s blood pressure are limited due to inconsistent results, methodological problems and the focus on school noise exposure. This paper reports on a study investigating the effects of aircraft and road traffic noise exposure on children’s blood pressure and heart rate.

Methods: Participants were 1,283 children, (age 9- 11 years) attending 62 primary schools around two European airports. Data were pooled and analyzed using multilevel modelling. Adjustments were made for a range of socio-economic and lifestyle factors.

Results: After pooling the data, aircraft noise exposure at school was related to a statistically non- significant increase in blood pressure and heart rate. Aircraft noise exposure at home was related to a statistically significant increase in blood pressure. Aircraft noise exposure during the night at home was positively and statistically significantly associated with blood pressure. The findings differed between the Dutch and British samples. Negative associations were found between road traffic noise exposure and blood pressure, which cannot be explained.

Conclusion: On the base of this study and previous scientific literature no unequivocal conclusions can be drawn about the relationship between community noise and children’s blood pressure.

Keywords: Aircraft noise, Blood pressure, Children, Heart rate, Road traffic noise

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