Los Angeles airport noise and mortality--faulty analysis and public policy.

A well-publicized investigation in Los Angeles showed a higher mortality rate in 1970-1971 among residents in a high-noise area near Los Angeles International Airport than in a low-noise control area. The authors of this report attributed the difference to the effects of jet aircraft noise. A reanalysis of the data did not confirm the original results. Once the confounding effects of age, race, and sex were taken into account by direct and indirect methods of standardization, there was little difference in the mortality experience of the airport and control areas. Adjusted mortality rates due to all causes, cardiovascular diseases, or cerebrovascular disease did not differ appreciably between the two areas and were nearly identical to those of Los Angeles County during 1970.