Impact of Noise Exposure on Risk of Developing Stress-Related Metabolic Effects: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Exposure to noise can increase biological stress reactions, which may increase adverse health effects, including metabolic disorders; however, the certainty in the association between exposure to noise and metabolic outcomes has not been widely explored. The objective of this review is to evaluate the evidence between noise exposures and metabolic effects. Materials and Methods: A systematic review of English and comparative studies available in PubMed, Cochrane Central, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases between January 1, 1980 and December 29, 2021 was performed. Risk of Bias of Nonrandomized Studies of Exposures was used to assess risk of bias of individual studies and certainty of the body of evidence for each outcome was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Results: Fifty-six primary studies reporting on cortisol, cholesterol levels, waist circumference, glucose levels, and adrenaline and/or noradrenaline were identified. Although meta-analyses suggested that there may be an increase in waist circumference and adrenaline with increased noise exposure, the certainty in the evidence is very low. Overall, the certainty in the evidence of an effect of increased noise on all the outcomes were low to very low due to concerns with risk of bias, inconsistency across exposure sources, populations, and studies, and imprecision in the estimates of effects. Conclusions: The certainty of the evidence of increased noise on metabolic effects was low to very low, which likely reflects the inability to compare across the totality of the evidence for each outcome. The findings from this review may be used to inform policies involving noise reduction and mitigation strategies, and to direct further research in areas that currently have limited evidence available.

Transportation Noise Pollution and Cardiovascular Health

“…A 2021 review assessed hypertension in relation to transportation noise and derived pooled estimates stratified by noise source and study type. 48 While the metaanalysis for road traffic noise showed no association between cohort and case-control studies, an increased odds ratio of 9% per 10 dB(A) was seen in crosssectional studies. No associations were observed between The lower effect threshold of road traffic noise, corresponding the level below which no health effects of noise are expected, is presently unknown, and, therefore, numbers are estimated for 4 lower harmful level scenarios.…”

“…A 2021 review assessed hypertension in relation to transportation noise and derived pooled estimates stratified by noise source and study type. 48 While the meta-analysis for road traffic noise showed no association between cohort and case-control studies, an increased odds ratio of 9% per 10 dB(A) was seen in cross-sectional studies. No associations were observed between aircraft and railway noise.…”

“…51 In a meta-analysis pooling of the risk estimates from cohort and cross-sectional studies, we found an RR of 1.04 (95% CI, 0.97-1.13) per 10-dB(A) road traffic noise and 1.03 (95% CI, 1.01-1.05) per 10-dB(A) aircraft noise. 19,48 No studies were identified for railway noise. This suggests that transportation noise may increase the risk of hypertension though more longitudinal studies are needed to investigate this further.…”

The Impact of Environmental and Occupational Noise on Maternal and Perinatal Pregnancy Outcomes

“…It has been proposed that this stressor causes changes that could influence pregnancy by increasing stress hormones through the activation of inflammatory pathways by stimulating the sympathetic nervous system. 6 Exposure to environmental noise from factories, trains, and airplanes before conception and during pregnancy has been associated with delayed time to achieve pregnancy. 33 Numerous studies have investigated how noise affects both fetal growth and embryogenic size; however, some studies have shown effects of noise on growth, whereas others have not shown any effects.…”

“…33 Numerous studies have investigated how noise affects both fetal growth and embryogenic size; however, some studies have shown effects of noise on growth, whereas others have not shown any effects. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Currently, the effects, if any, on noise exposure and embryonic/fetal growth remain uncertain.…”