ESOC 2025 | A study investigating the association between traffic noise exposure and stroke prevalence

So this was a study that we did to look at the association specifically between traffic noise exposure and stroke prevalence and it included all of the counties in the United States so it was a national study and we measured stroke prevalence at the county level and measured the proportion of the population exposed to at least 45 decibels of traffic noise. That’s a cut point around, you know, what is used to define harmful effects of noise exposure. So we looked at the association between noise and stroke prevalence, and we accounted for a number of other variables like the sociodemographic characteristics of the counties, as well as things like air pollution and a number of factors that we think could confound that association. And when we did the analysis, we found a small but significant association, about 1% difference comparing counties that are at the higher level of traffic noise exposure compared to counties that are at the lower end of traffic noise exposure. So this is really one of the first US studies to look at traffic noise in comparison to Europe where there’s been quite a few studies that have found an association between traffic noise and stroke risk actually and there are guidelines in place that have been put out by the WHO with respect to noise exposure. So what we’re hoping to do with this initial study is stimulate some more research in the United States so we can move more towards having good data that could possibly help support policies at the national level.

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