Transportation Noise Tied to Stroke Recurrence Risk

TOPLINEHigher exposure to transportation noise was associated with a 36% higher rate of stroke recurrence among patients with acute ischemic stroke, though no significant associations were found between exposure to transportation noise and severity of initial stroke or all-cause mortality.METHODOLOGYResearchers conducted a prospective cohort study within the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi Project from 2016 to 2023, including 2441 patients (mean age, 68.4 years; 47.5% women) with acute incident ischemic stroke.Transportation noise exposure was derived from US Department of Transportation data (2016, 2018) and defined as the maximum area-weighted noise level within a 100-m buffer of each patient's residential address.The outcomes were severity of initial stroke (measured using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale [NIHSS]), stroke recurrence, and all-cause mortality. Median NIHSS score at presentation was 3.0.The median follow-up was 2.2 years for stroke recurrence and 2.5 years for mortality, with median transportation noise exposure of 45.5 decibels.The analysis was adjusted for demographic variables, individual-level health behaviors, neighborhood characteristics, and air pollution-related variables.TAKEAWAYDuring follow-up, 7.2% of patients experienced recurrent stroke and 33.5% died.Increased exposure to transportation noise was associated with an increased risk for recurrence of stroke (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.01-1.82; P = .04) after adjustments, comparing high (75th percentile) vs low (25th percentile) exposure.Transportation noise was not significantly associated with severity of initial stroke or all-cause mortality.IN PRACTICE"These findings demonstrate a possible impact of transportation noise on stroke prognosis. Further research using larger, geographically diverse cohorts with a longer follow-up is required to support our findings for stroke recurrence," the authors wrote.SOURCEThe study was led by Hely D. Nanavati, PhD, MPH, MBBS, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was published online on August 27 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.LIMITATIONSThe study was limited by residual confounding, a single-county design, low event rate, potential measurement error owing to old data, and lack of accounting for mitigation of noise exposure by the indoor environment or time spent outside of homes.DISCLOSURESThe study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Some authors reported having financial ties with various organizations. Details are provided in the original article.This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.