Noise Exposure Linked to Heart Disease

Exposure to environmental and work noise seems to be linked to an increase in the risk of heart attack, new research published in the European Heart Journal suggests. Researchers have found that the risk is associated more with the physiological effect of this chronic noise rather than with the annoyance caused to individuals. There are differences between men and women though.

German researchers believe a reduction in the environmental noise is particularly important for people with existing cardiovascular disease. They advise that the workplace ear protection level should be lowered from the current level of 85 decibels to a level between 65 and 75 decibels.

32 hospitals in Berlin were involved in the study between 1998 and 2001. 2,000 heart attack patients were compared with more than 2000 control patients admitted to trauma and general surgery departments. Approximately three quarters of the 4,115 patients were men, with a mean age of 56 and only a quarter women, with the mean age of 58.

Researchers, led by Dr. Stefan Willich, Director of the Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics at the medical centre wanted to study the relationship between chronic noise and the risk of heart attack as well as to compare the risks caused by subjective annoyance and objective noise levels. Both interviews and objective, independent assessments were used.

General environmental noise (e.g. traffic noise) was found to affect both sexes, causing an increase in the risk of heart attack with almost 50% in men and a threefold increase in women. Workplace noise did not affect women's risk, but increased men's risk by nearly one third.

As far as the individual's subjective reaction to noise, environmental noise caused no annoyance in men, and thus no risks, but slightly increased women's risks. The situation was reversed for workplace noise, with no risks in women, but with a one third increase in men's risks due to annoyance. The risks did not rise with the increase in noise levels.

An explanation offered for the differences between men and women is that women tend to spend more time at home and are generally not so much exposed to loud workplace noise.

The findings are consistent with an earlier hypothesis according to which long-term noise exposure is associated with cardiovascular disease. The team are planning further studies.

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