Effects of environmental noise exposure on ambulatory blood pressure in young adults

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that environmental noise exposure is associated with hypertension in middle-aged and older populations, but the relationship in the young subpopulation and between the genders is still unclear. This panel study investigated effects of environmental noise exposure on 24-h ambulatory blood pressure in 60 adults aged 18-32 years. Individual noise exposure and personal blood pressure were measured simultaneously for 30 males and 30 females. Linear mixed-effects regression models were applied to estimate effects. Total subjects (56.6+/-16.5A-weighted decibels (dBA)) had transient elevations of 1.15 (95% CI=0.86-1.43)mmHg SBP and 1.16 (0.93-1.38)mmHg DBP at daytime, as well as 0.74 (0.21-1.26)mmHg SBP and 0.77 (0.34-1.20)mmHg DBP at nighttime, significantly associated with a 5-dBA increase in noise exposure. Such effects on SBP and DBP still persisted at the 30- and 60-min time-lagged noise exposure. Per 5-dBA increase in 24-h average noise exposure was significantly associated with sustained increments of 1.15 (0.76-1.54)mmHg SBP and 1.27 (0.96-1.58)mmHg DBP in males (57.4+/-16.0dBA), as well as the higher levels of 1.65 (1.36-1.94)mmHg SBP and 1.51 (1.27-1.75)mmHg DBP in females (55.9+/-17.0dBA). We found that environmental noise exposure may have elevated effects on adults' blood pressure. Young females are more susceptible to noise exposure than males.