Examining the Relationship Between Transportation Noise and Risk of Dementia

Could the level of transportation noise around your place of residence be putting you at an increased risk for dementia?

Cantuaria and colleagues (2021) used health and administrative registries in Denmark, as well as national data on road traffic and from the railway system, to evaluate the relationship between road traffic and railway train noise and the risk of dementia.

They collected data from over 1.9 million older adults (aged 60 years or older) who had a complete address history (and exposure information) over a 10-year period, did not have a diagnosis of dementia prior to baseline, and had complete data for other variables being evaluated such as highest completed level of education. Yearly noise exposure from road traffic and railway noise were estimated for each participant to calculate a 10-year period average for the participant’s most exposed building facade and for their least (please see article for details).

These authors found that road traffic and railway train noise were associated with an increased risk for dementia, although the relationship was not linear. The reader is referred to the full article regarding the exact details of this risk for the different sound levels at the most- and least-exposed facades, as well as the authors’ additional analyses related to dementia subtypes (i.e., Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Parkinson’s disease dementia) and adjustment for other variables.

Reference

Cantuaria M, Waldorff F, Wermuth L, et al. (2021) Residential exposure to transportation noise in Denmark and incidence of dementia: national cohort study. BMJ, 374:n1954.