Road Traffic Noise, Blood Pressure and Heart Rate: Pooled Analyses of Harmonized Data from 91,718 Participants

Introduction Exposure to road traffic noise may be associated with increased blood pressure and heart rate. It is unclear to what extent exposure to air pollution may influence this relationship. We investigated associations between noise, blood pressure and heart rate, with harmonized data from three European cohorts, while taking into account exposure to air pollution. Methods Data were obtained from LifeLines, EPIC-Oxford, and HUNT3. Road traffic noise exposure was assessed using a European noise model based on the Common Noise Assessment Methods in Europe framework (CNOSSOS-EU). Exposure to air pollution was estimated using a European-wide land use regression model. Blood pressure and heart rate were obtained by trained clinical professionals. Pooled cross-sectional analyses of harmonized data were conducted at the individual level by means of a novel software, and cohort-specific results were pooled with random-effects meta-analyses. Results We analyzed data from 91,718 participants, across the three...