THE INCIDENCE OF MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION AND ITS RELATION TO ROAD TRAFFIC NOISE - THE BERLIN CASE-CONTROL STUDIES

The hypothesis that prolonged exposure to road traffic noise causes ischaemic heart disease (IHD) was tested in two case-control studies including a cross-sectional study of middle-aged men. In the Berlin traffic noise studies, comprising a prestudy and a main study, interviews were conducted with 109 and 645 male patients (survivers) with acute myocardial infarction (MI) and 134 and 3390 controls, respectively, residing in Berlin for at least 15 y. The subjects were aged from 41-70 y. The odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of IHD incidence was 1.3 (0.5-3.8) in the pre- and 1.2 (0.8-1.7) in the main study for men in the highest noise category (71-80 dB(A)) as compared to the lowest noise category (51-60 dB(A)) after adjustment for potentially confounding factors. In a subsample of men who had not moved within the past 15 y, the odds ratio was 1.2 (0.3-4.1) in the pre- and 1.3 (0.9-2.0) in the main study, the latter borderline significant (p < 0.10). Cross-sectional analyses among the random sample of controls who had not moved within the past 15 y revealed for men in the highest noise category a relative prevalence of 1.2 (0.7-2.1) for self-reported MI and 1.4 (0.9-2.0) for the relative prevalence of gastro-intestinal ulcers.