Summary
In a population study, an attempt was made to answer the question whether people living in a street with much traffic (noise) run an increased risk of contracting cardiovascular diseases.
The necessary cardiovascular data were provided by the ‘Consultation Bureau Project Heart Diseases’ in a small town in The Netherlands. The study was restricted to housewives aged 40–49 years. Of 2,000 housewives 86% participated: 1342 living in quiet streets (Ldn<62.5 dB(A)) and 399 living in noisy streets (Ldn>62.5 dB(A)). For both groups, we studied the occurrence of consultation with a cardiologist, hypertension, angina pectoris, ischaemia on E.C.G., and heart shape pathology on X-ray photographs.
No differences were found between the two groups of housewives. These results are discussed in the light of the question whether traffic noise can be a risk factor to cardiovascular disease. It is pointed out that the absolute exposure to traffic noise and the difference in exposure may have been too small to demonstrate an effect.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cohen, S., Evans, G. W., Krantz, D. S., Stokols, D.: Community noise and children. Third International Congress on Noise as a Public Health Problem. Freiburg, 1978 (to be published)
Cops, A.: Traffic noise and annoyance. Polytechn. T. (Geluid en trilling) 3, 106–111 (1978) (Dutch)
Gierke, H. E. von: Development of a uniform approach to characterize noise impact on people. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 47, 45–53 (1976)
Karagodina, I. L., Soldatkina, S. A., Vinokur, I. L., Klimukhin, A. A.: Effect of aircraft noise on the population near airports. Hyg. Sanit. 34, 182–187 (1969)
Knipschild, P.: Industrial noise and cardiovascular disease. T. Soc. Geneesk. 54, 765–768, 777 (1976) (Dutch)
Knipschild, P.: Industrial noise and cardiovascular disease. T. Soc. Geneesk. 55, 421 (1977a) (Dutch)
Knipschild, P.: Medical effects of aircraft noise. Int. Arch. Occup. Environ. Health 40, 185–204 (1977b)
Mosskov, J. I., Ettema, J. H.: Extra-auditory effects in short-term exposure to noise. Int. Arch. Occup. Environ. Health 40, 165–184 (1977)
Schultz, T. J.: Synthesis of social surveys on noise annoyance. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 64, 377–405 (1978)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Knipschild, P., Sallé, H. Road traffic noise and cardiovascular disease. Int. Arch Occup Environ Heath 44, 55–59 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381208
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381208