35 research outputs found
Exposure-response relationship between traffic noise and the risk of stroke: a systematic review with meta-analysis
No full textPrometna je buka rizični čimbenik za nastanak bolesti krvožilja poput povišenoga krvnog tlaka i ishemijske bolesti srca, ali su saznanja vezana uz moždani udar još uvijek ograničena. Cilj je ovoga istraživanja bio napraviti sustavni pregled epidemioloških podataka i metaanalizu rizika od moždanog udara povezanoga s izloženošću buci cestovnog i zračnog prometa. Pretraživanje je provedeno 24. studenoga 2015., a obuhvatilo je članke na engleskom, španjolskom i ruskom jeziku koji su odgovarali kriterijima pretrage u bazama MEDLINE, EMBASE i Google Scholar. Kvalitativna sinteza obuhvatila je 13 istraživanja, od kojih je 11 obuhvaćeno metaanalizom kvalitativnih učinaka. U prosjeku su svi članci bili visokokvalitetni. Na temelju rezultata šest istraživanja (n≈8.790.671 sudionik) vezanih uz buku cestovnog prometa, utvrdili smo da ukupni relativni rizik (RR) od moždanog udara prilikom porasta buke od 10 dB iznosi 1,03 (95 % CI:
0,87, 1,22). U rasponu buke od 70 do 75 dB (premaTraffic noise is an established risk factor for some cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and ischaemic heart disease, but the evidence regarding stroke is still limited. In this study we aimed to systematically review the related epidemiological data and make a meta-analysis of the risk of stroke morbidity associated with road and air traffic noise exposure. We searched articles in English, Spanish, and Russian indexed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Google Scholar on 24 November 2015. Qualitative synthesis was made for 13 studies, and 11 studies were included in quality effects meta-analyses. Overall, they were of high quality. Based on six studies (n≈8,790,671 participants) for road traffic noise, we found a pooled relative risk (RR) of stroke per 10 dB to be 1.03 (95 % CI: 0.87, 1.22). In the 70-75 dB noise range
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Evaluation of the social and economic burden of road traffic noise-attributed myocardial infarction in Bulgarian urban population
No full textPrometna je buka pomno istražen rizični čimbenik za nastanak ishemijske bolesti srca, napose infarkta miokarda. Budući da je infarkt miokarda vodeći uzrok invalidnosti i smrtnosti u Bugarskoj te da je veliki udio urbanoga stanovništva izložen visokim razinama buke, za donošenje odluka iz područja zdravstvene ekologije i kontrole buke bitno je utvrditi koliki je taj teret bolesti povezane s prometnom bukom. Cilj našeg istraživanja bio je procijeniti teret infarkta miokarda povezanog s cestovnom bukom u bugarskom urbanom stanovništvu oslanjajući se na metodologiju Svjetske zdravstvene organizacije za procjenu tereta bolesti povezanih s okolišnom bukom. Podaci o riziku preuzeti su iz nedavno objavljene meta-analize koja daje pregled odnosa izloženosti i odgovora između cestovne buke i rizika od infarkta miokarda. Na temelju tih podataka izračunali smo udio slučajeva infarkta miokarda koji se mogu povezati s cestovnom bukom, a na temelju njih gubitak u godinama kvalitetnog života (engl. quality-adjusted life-years, krat. QALY) te ekonomski teret bolesti, uz pretpostavku da gubitak svake godine kvalitetnog života košta 12.000 eura. Rezultati su pokazali da se oko 3 % odnosno 101 slučaj infarkta miokarda može pripisati cestovnoj buci, od kojeg je njih 55 bilo kobno. Izgubljenih godina kvalitetnog života bilo je 968, a njihova ekonomska cijena iznosila je oko 11,6 milijuna eura. Premda su te procjene grube i daju tek približan uvid u stvarni teret bolesti povezane s cestovnom bukom, one ipak jasno pokazuju koliko je važan socijalni i ekonomski aspekt zagađenja okoliša bukom u Bugarskoj. Nadamo se stoga da će rezultati našeg istraživanja privući pažnju ne samo epidemiologa nego i zdravstvenih ekologa i ekonomista, s obzirom na to da se radi o iznimno važnom ekološkom problemu.Road traffic noise is a widely studied environmental risk factor for ischaemic heart disease and myocardial infarction in particular. Given that myocardial infarction is a leading disability and mortality cause in Bulgaria and that a significant proportion of the urban population is exposed to high noise levels, quantification of the burden of disease attributable to traffic noise is essential for environmental health policy making and noise control engineering. This study aimed at estimating the burden of the myocardial infarction cases attributable to road traffic noise in the Bulgarian urban population. We used the methodology for estimating the burden of disease attributable to environmental noise outlined by the World Health Organization. Risk data were extracted from a recently published meta-analysis providing updated exposure-response relationship between traffic noise and the risk for myocardial infarction. Based on these data we calculated the fraction of myocardial infarction cases attributable to traffic noise, loss of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and the economic burden, assuming € 12,000 per QALY. About 2.9 % or 101 of all myocardial infarction cases could be attributed to road traffic noise. Fifty-five of these were fatal. Nine hundred and sixty-eight QALYs were lost to these cases. The monetary value of these QALYs was about € 11.6 million. Although the measures used in this study are crude and give only an approximation of the real burden of disease from road traffic noise, they are indicative of the important social and economic aspect of noise pollution in Bulgaria. Hopefully, these results will direct the attention of epidemiologists, environmental hygienists, and health economists to this pivotal environmental issue
Heart disease attributed to occupational noise, vibration and other co-exposure: Self-reported population-based survey among Bulgarian workers
No full textBackground: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the main mortality cause worldwide. Noise and vibration are considered to be occupational risk factors, but little is known about their cardiovascular effects in Bulgaria in terms of gender and various professional groups. The aim of this study has been to investigate the risk of prevalent CVD, associated with occupational noise and vibration exposure. Material and Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of the data from 3 waves of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2001–2010 – a nationally-representative cross-sectional questionnaire survey covering 3149 workers aged ≥ 15 years in Bulgaria. Data on self-reported heart disease were linked to self-reported occupational noise and vibration, adjusting for other factors. Results from the 3 waves were pooled together using the inverse variance heterogeneity (IVhet) meta-analysis. Results: For noise, the risk was elevated among women (relative risk (RR) = 1.26, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.53–3.01), but not men (RR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.14–1.65). Long-term workers had RR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.60–1.69. For vibration, the risk was increased in all participants. It was higher among men (RR = 2.56, 95% CI: 1.60–4.09) than it was among women (RR = 1.32, 95% CI: 0.77–2.27). Among long-term, industrial, and service workers it was RR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.02–2.40; RR = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.61–1.98, and RR = 1.18, 95% CI: 0.57–2.46, respectively. Conclusions: Occupational vibration was a risk factor for prevalent heart disease in Bulgaria. Noise was an alleged risk factor only among long-term workers and women. Med Pr 2016;67(4):435–44
Self-reported occupational noise may be associated with prevalent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the us general population
No full textIntroduction: Occupational noise exposure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common in the United States, but so far their association has not been explored. Given the neuroimmunological effects of noise, such an association seems plausible. Thus, the present study aimed to explore the association of occupational noise exposure with prevalent COPD in the US general population. Materials and Methods: We used data from the population-based National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2014. The cross-sectional association of self-reported duration of exposure to very loud noise during participants’ occupational lifetime with self-reported COPD and emphysema was explored using weighted logistic regression. Results and Discussion: The fully adjusted model yielded odds ratio (OR)≥15 years = 1.68 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.28, 2.21] for COPD and OR≥15 years = 1.61 (95% CI: 1.13, 2.30) for emphysema. Race/ethnicity was a significant effect modifier. In sensitivity analysis with cumulative noise exposure based on a job exposure matrix, we found no effect. Conclusion: In conclusion, we found a relationship between self-reported occupational noise exposure and the risk of prevalent COPD in the US general population, but none with objective noise levels. Being the first study on the subject matter, and given the design limitations, these findings are tentative and should be treated with caution
Specificity and definiteness in sentence and discourse structure
No full textIn this paper, I argue that this informally given list of characteristics covers only a certain subclass of specific indefinites. […] In particular, I dispute the definition of specific indefinites as "the speaker has the referent in mind" as rather confusing if one is working with a semantic theory. Furthermore, I discuss "relative specificity", it. cases in which the specific indefinite does not exhibit wide, but intermediate or narrow scope behavior. Based on such data, I argue that specificity expresses a referential dependency between introduced discourse items. Informally speaking, the specificity of the indefinite expression something [...] expresses that the reference of the expression depends on the reference of another expression, here, on the expression a monk, not the speaker
Perceived access to recreational/green areas as an effect modifier of the relationship between health and neighbourhood noise/air quality: Results from the 3rd European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS, 2011–2012)
No full textPsychometric properties of the Bulgarian translation of Noise Sensitivity Scale Short Form (NSS-SF): Implementation in the field of noise control
No full textThe Noise Sensitivity Scale Short Form (NSS-SF), developed in English as a more practical form of the classical Weinstein NSS, has not to date been validated in other cultures, and its validity and reliability have not yet been confirmed. This study aimed to validate NSS-SF in Bulgarian and to demonstrate its applicability. The study comprised test-retest (n = 115) and a field-testing (n = 71) of the newly validated scale. Its construct validity was examined with confirmatory factor analysis, and very good model-fit was observed. Temporal stability was assessed in a test-retest (r = 0.990), convergent validity was examined with single-item susceptibility to the noise scale (r = 0.906) and discriminant validity was confirmed with single-item noise annoyance scale (r = 0.718). The lowest observed McDonald′s omega across the studies was 0.923. The cross-cultural validation of NSS-SF was successful but it proved to be somewhat problematic with respect to its annoyance-based items
Association between Noise Pollution and Prevalent Ischemic Heart Disease
No full textBackground: Noise pollution is considered a risk factor for ischemic heart disease (IHD). Both are highly prevalent in Bulgaria, but their association has not been studied sufficiently
Residential road traffic noise as a risk factor for hypertension in adults: Systematic review and meta-analysis of analytic studies published in the period 2011–2017
No full textOccupational noise and ischemic heart disease: A systematic review
No full textNoise exposure might be a risk factor for ischemic heart disease (IHD). Unlike residential exposure, however, evidence for occupational noise is limited. Given that high-quality quantitative synthesis of existing data is highly warranted for occupational safety and policy, we aimed at conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of the risks of IHD morbidity and mortality because of occupational noise exposure. We carried out a systematic search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and on the Internet since April 2, 2015, in English, Spanish, Russian, and Bulgarian. A quality-scoring checklist was developed a priori to assess different sources of methodological bias. A qualitative data synthesis was performed. Conservative assumptions were applied when appropriate. A meta-analysis was not feasible because of unresolvable methodological discrepancies between the studies. On the basis of five studies, there was some evidence to suggest higher risk of IHD among workers exposed to objectively assessed noise >75–80 dB for <20 years (supported by one high, one moderate, and one low quality study, opposed by one high and one moderate quality study). Three moderate and two low quality studies out of six found self-rated exposure to be associated with higher risk of IHD, and only one moderate quality study found no effect. Out of four studies, a higher mortality risk was suggested by one moderate quality study relying on self-rated exposure and one of high-quality study using objective exposure. Sensitivity analyses showed that at higher exposures and in some vulnerable subgroups, such as women, the adverse effects were considerably stronger. Despite methodological discrepancies and limitations of the included studies, occupational noise appeared to be a risk factor for IHD morbidity. Results suggested higher risk for IHD mortality only among vulnerable subgroups. Workers exposed to high occupational noise should be considered at higher overall risk of IHD
