Associations of Noise and Socioeconomic and -Demographic Status on Cardiovascular and Respiratory Diseases on Borough Level in a Large German City State

Abstract

Worldwide, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are increasing. Environmental noise and the socioeconomic and sociodemographic situation are important factors for the diseases. Using borough health claims data from 2011 in the city of Hamburg, ecological analyses with principal component analyses were conducted to describe the relationship of road traffic noise L den (day, evening, and night) > 65 dB(A), physician density, and social deprivation with regional prevalence rates of heart failure and hypertension (n = 67 boroughs). Additionally, associations between the considered factors with borough prevalence rates of acute bronchitis and asthma in children up to 14 years old were analyzed. The multivariate regression analyses (ANCOVA) indicated that the socioeconomic and sociodemographic borough background might be associated with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, showing the strongest association among hypertensive female patients with 9.90 percent (p < 0.0001) in the highest social deprivation category, when compared to the group of low social deprivation. However, associations between noise, physician density, and the respective health outcomes were negligible. Results will serve as a basis for further investigations. By using data from two surveys, future studies will focus on individual level data to assess the validity of our model, and to develop strategies to reduce the prevalence of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

Associations between a Subjective Living Environment and Quality of Life among People with Arterial Hypertension—Results from the Hamburg City Health Study

“…The results of this study are in accordance with other studies, which have examined only individual determinants (e.g., arterial hypertension and quality of life). In particular, the relationship of arterial hypertension with educational status could be proven by numerous studies; higher education is often associated with lower risk of arterial hypertension [7,18,19]. Here, we found that high education status (ISCED = 3) is associated with only about half the risk of hypertension compared to low educational status (ISCED = 1).…”

Spatial Aspects of Health—Developing a Conceptual Framework

“…Not only the respiratory tract is affected by air pollutants but also the cardiovascular system [45] and other organs such as the brain. Noise, especially road traffic and aircraft noise, is considered to be a relevant risk factor for adverse health effects [46]. Several studies have shown the link between noise and different cardiovascular and mental health outcomes [47].…”

Multi-Domain Design Structure Matrix Approach Applied to Urban System Modeling

“…It is necessary to know not only the stressors but also the locations and activities of the urban dwellers in sufficient detail. A simple way of accounting for exposure would be to use census data and combine them with maps of environmental stressors (e.g., [37,38]). However, for a comprehensive assessment of exposure, dynamic exposure models are currently developed.…”

“…The health of urban dwellers, an integral part of the target function of UrbWellth, depends on the different sectors of the urban system. The associations between different potential determinants (e.g., environmental stressors: noise, air pollution, and meteorological variables, which lead to heat stress) and health are usually simulated with statistical models (e.g., [37,38]), denoted here as health models. Regression models, in which one (univariate) or more (multivariate) independent variables are linked to a certain health outcome (i.e., dependent variable), are frequently used.…”