Nighttime Road-Traffic Noise and Arterial Hypertension in an Urban Population
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Summary
This study investigates the relationship between nighttime road-traffic noise and arterial hypertension (AH) in an urban population, addressing a potential source of exposure bias in previous research. Prior studies often relied on daytime noise measurements, which may be inaccurate because urban residents typically spend workdays outside their homes. The authors hypothesized that nighttime noise exposure would be a more reliable indicator of health risk and that the association between noise and hypertension would be stronger in men than in women. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 2,503 adult residents (995 men and 1,508 women) of a downtown Belgrade municipality. Participants were selected based on residence longer than 10 years and bedrooms oriented toward the street. Noise levels were measured in 70 streets during two nighttime intervals (10:00 PM–12:00 AM and 12:00 AM–1:30 AM). Streets were categorized as "noisy" (equivalent noise level [Leq] > 45 dB(A)) or "quiet" (Leq ≤ 45 dB(A)). Residents were interviewed regarding antihypertensive therapy, and those not on medication underwent blood pressure measurements using a mercury sphygmomanometer. Potential confounders, including age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and family history of hypertension, were controlled for in the analysis. The results indicated a significant association between nighttime noise and hypertension in men, but not in women. Among men, the prevalence of AH was 23.6% in noisy areas compared to 17.5% in quiet areas. After adjusting for confounding factors, men living in noisy areas had an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.58 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03–2.42; p=0.038) for hypertension relative to those in quiet areas. In contrast, the relationship was statistically insignificant for women, with an adjusted OR of 0.90 (95% CI: 0.59–1.38; p=0.644). Residents in noisy areas reported higher levels of noise annoyance, but socio-demographic characteristics and other risk factors were largely similar between the two groups. The study concludes that nighttime urban road-traffic noise exceeding 45 dB(A) is significantly associated with the occurrence of arterial hypertension in men. The authors suggest that using nighttime noise levels as exposure indicators, rather than daytime levels, can alleviate exposure bias and resolve discrepancies found in previous epidemiological studies. These findings support public health policies that prioritize nighttime noise reduction, particularly for male populations, to mitigate cardiovascular risks.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | OpenAlex-citations | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| archive | success | unpaywall | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-25 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.
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