Grace Lenox
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Lauren Smith
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Environmental Health Sciences / Public Health
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 4 (1:40pm – 2:30pm)
Authors: Grace Lenox, Lauren Smith, Richard Neitzel
Abstract
While much is known about the impact of noise on hearing loss it is important to recognize other adverse health effects of noise, and in the case of this study, specifically hypertension. Noise exposure comes in many forms including occupational, traffic (e.g., road, rail, air), and recreational (e.g., shooting, power tool use, etc.). Hypertension is a significant health concern and can lead to other poor health outcomes. Given the ubiquity of both noise exposure and hypertension, it is important to understand the strength of their relationship. For this study, search terms were generated by a health sciences librarian based on predetermined research guidelines related to noise and hypertension to determine the risk level between noise exposure and hypertension. The search (which includes papers related to cardiovascular disease as well) found 6,058 papers for possible review, and these studies were uploaded into the systematic review software Covidence. Following deduplication, title and abstract screening of 5,861 studies were completed by two reviewers. Full PDFs were then uploaded for the 512 remaining papers and each was again reviewed by two researchers for relevancy. Information (e.g. title, primary researchers, risk ratios between instances of noise and hypertension, etc.) is currently being extracted from the finalized list of 264 reviews regarding noise’s impact on hypertension (and CVD/IHD), with the intention of compiling into data tables for a summary. Because the literature is quite robust on hypertension and noise and several systematic reviews and meta-analyses have been performed over the years. The relevant review papers will be taken from this set and included in an umbrella review of the quantitative findings. Based on the brief review of conclusions from previous reviews detailing noise and hypertension, there is an expected correlation between high noise levels and increased hypertension in populations—supporting the hypothesis that noise can lead to hypertension. This review seeks to coalesce all of the current literature on the risk of hypertension from noise to spur further research, spread awareness, and facilitate policy change.
