Road Traffic Noise at the Residence, Annoyance, and Cognitive Function in Elderly Women

Abstract

The detrimental effects of traffic noise on cognition in children are well documented. Not much is known about the health effects in adults. We investigated the association of residential exposure to road traffic noise and annoyance due to road traffic noise with cognitive function in a cohort of 288 elderly women from the longitudinal Study on the influence of Air pollution on Lung function, Inflammation and Aging (SALIA) in Germany. Residential noise levels—weighted 24-h mean (LDEN) and nighttime noise (LNIGHT)—were modeled for the most exposed facade of dwellings and dichotomized at ≥50 dB(A). Traffic noise annoyance (day and night) was estimated by questionnaire. Cognitive function was assessed using the Consortium to Establish a Registry on Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD-Plus) Neuropsychological Assessment Battery. The modeled noise levels were associated with impaired total cognition and the constructional praxis domain, independently of air pollution. Self-reported noise annoyance was associated with better performance in semantic memory and constructional praxis domains. This finding should be interpreted with caution since we could not control for potential confounding by hearing loss. Noise levels and annoyance were associated, but their health effects seemed mutually independent.

A feasibility study on the association between residential greenness and neurocognitive function in middle-aged Bulgarians

“…However, at this point, we can offer no clear explanation of these findings. Other authors (22) have also reported significant association between exposure to traffic noise and some CERAD subtests.…”

“…For instance, Tzivian et al (52) reported positive associations between long-term air pollution and traffic noise exposures and mild cognitive impairment, with some evidence of synergistic effects (53). Another recent study (22) observed inverse relationships between noise levels and total cognition as well as constructional praxis in elderly women tested with CERAD. To our knowledge, only two studies have tested mediation by air pollution/noise; one (51) did not find any such evidence in adults, but the other (34) showed partial mediation by traffic-related air pollution in children.…”

“…The main outcome was the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Neuropsychological Battery (CERAD-NB). CERAD-NB was developed to be a reliable and standardized tool for measuring primary cognitive manifestations of Alzheimer's disease (21) and has already been used to study environmental determinants of cognitive function (22). It consists of the following subtests: Verbal Fluency (VF), modified Boston Naming Test (BNT), Constructional Praxis (CP), Word List Memory (WLM), Word List Recall (WLR), and Word List Recognition (WLRc).…”

Nächtliche Verkehrslärmbelästigung in Deutschland: individuelle und regionale Unterschiede in der NAKO Gesundheitsstudie

“…Lärmbelästigung wird generell als psychische Reaktion auf Lärmexposition angesehen [8] und gilt als umweltbedingte Gesundheitsbelastung. Nach Angaben der WHO ist Lärmbelästigung nach den Schlafstörungen die zweitwichtigste gesundheitliche Auswirkung von Umweltlärm [1] und ist selbst wiederum mit kardiovaskulären Erkrankungen und Beeinträchtigungen der psychischen Ge-sundheit verbunden [7,[9][10][11][12][13][14]. Insbesondere ist bei Lärmbelästigung das Risiko für Bluthochdruck [13], Vorhofflimmern [15], Depressionen und Angststörungen [9] erhöht.…”

“…Nur teilweise ist diese Belästigung durch objektiv messbare Lärmpegel erklärbar. Tatsächlich ist die Korrelation zwischen den objektiven und subjektiven Maßen der Lärmexposition nur moderat, da sie durch regionale und individuelle Faktoren modifiziert werden kann [11,14,[19][20][21][22]. Mehrere Studien zeigten Assoziationen zwischen Lärmbelästigung und regionalen Faktoren wie der Zusammensetzung der Wohngebiete oder -gemeinden bzw.…”