Long-Term Exposure to Transportation Noise and Risk for Type 2 Diabetes in a Nationwide Cohort Study from Denmark
Jesse D. Thacher, Aslak H. Poulsen, Ulla A. Hvidtfeldt, Ole Raaschou-Nielsen, Jørgen Brandt, Camilla Geels, Jibran Khan, Thomas Münzel, Mette Sørensen
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies have linked transportation noise to increased morbidity and mortality, particularly for cardiovascular outcomes. However, studies investigating metabolic outcomes such as diabetes are limited and have focused only on noise exposures estimated for the loudest residential façade. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to examine the influence of long-term residential exposure to transportation noise at the loudest and quietest residential façades and the risk for type 2 diabetes. METHODS: of age. From 2000 to 2017, 233,912 incident cases of type 2 diabetes were identified using hospital and prescription registries, with a mean follow-up of 12.9 y. We used Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for individual- and area-level covariates and long-term residential air pollution. The population-attributable fraction (PAF) was also computed. RESULTS: was associated with a 1-4% higher likelihood of type 2 diabetes compared with those who were unexposed. We found road traffic and railway noise associated with a PAF of 8.5% and 1.4%, respectively, of the diabetes cases. DISCUSSION: Long-term exposure to road, railway, and possibly aircraft traffic noise was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in a nationwide cohort of Danish adults. Our findings suggest that diabetes should be included when estimating the burden of disease due to transportation noise. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP9146.