Effects of road traffic noise on prevalence of hypertension in men: results of the Luebeck Blood Pressure Study.

Within the Luebeck Blood Pressure Study - a cross-sectional study of 2,315 Luebeck citizens, aged 30-69 years, response 83.3% - the association between blood pressure and exposure to road traffic noise at home was investigated. Road traffic noise was grouped as HIGH and LOW exposure, hypertension was defined as either SBP greater than or equal to 160 mm Hg and/or DBP greater than or equal to 95 mm Hg and/or on antihypertensive medication. A comparison of the crude prevalence of hypertension showed an increase of prevalence for men from 25.5% in the LOW to 31.1% in the HIGH exposure group (odds ratio: 1.32; 90% CI: 1.03-1.69), which was statistically significant at the alpha-level of 0.1. After univariate analyses the variables age, BMI, alcohol consumption, years of education, duration of residence, and employment status were considered as possible confounders or effect modifiers. A logistic regression model was fitted by using a backward stepping procedure. Prevalence were adjusted by using this logistic regression model. Differences between adjusted prevalences in LOW and HIGH exposure groups were similar to the crude differences. The odds ratio computed by the coefficients of this model was also similar to the corresponding odds ratio above. To validate the model we simultaneously stratified the remaining variable of the final model and combined the resulting odds ratios by Mantel-Haenzel. The results were again similar. According to the results of this study a positive association between exposure to road traffic noise and prevalence of hypertension in men is probable.