Gabriella Captur of University College London and colleagues analyzed available population-based cardiac MRI data and concluded that chronic exposure to aircraft noise at night is associated with deterioration of cardiac structure and function. The researchers used data from 21,360 people from the UK Biobank repository who completed this type of study. Of these, 3,635 lived near four major airports: two in London, Birmingham, and Manchester. According to the British Civil Aviation Authority, three percent of the latter were exposed to elevated noise levels (45 decibels or more) at night and nine percent to a 24-hour average (50 decibels or more). Statistical analysis of the data was performed using generalized linear models, adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors, lifestyle, and environmental factors. The results were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
It turned out that those exposed to elevated noise levels at night had an average left ventricular myocardial mass that was 7 percent greater and its thickness 4 percent greater than those without such exposure, which is associated with a 32 percent increased risk of major cardiovascular events (heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and death). They also had poorer myocardial contractility: global circumferential strain was 8 percent lower on average, which is associated with a 27 percent increased risk of major cardiovascular events. According to the authors' calculations, a hypothetical individual with cardiac MRI abnormalities characteristic of exposure to aircraft noise at night has an approximately fourfold increased risk of major cardiovascular events.
