Systematic review and meta-analysis links traffic noise to hypertension risk

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Frontiers in Medicine Published May 28, 2026 Medically reviewed May 28, 2026 DOI ↗ By Dr. Amelia Tan, PhD · Internal Medicine & Chronic Disease

Key Takeaway

Consider that long-term traffic noise exposure may be associated with a modestly increased hypertension risk.

This is a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies examining the association between long-term exposure to traffic noise and the incidence of hypertension in adults. The analysis included 1,353,481 participants. The authors synthesized findings from studies comparing higher exposure to lower or no exposure.

The primary analysis, treating noise exposure as a binary variable, found that higher exposure was significantly associated with an increased risk of hypertension, with a hazard ratio of 1.07 (95% CI: 1.01–1.13, P = 0.03). When traffic noise was treated as a continuous variable, it was also associated with an increased risk, with a hazard ratio of 1.03 (95% CI: 1.02–1.04).

The authors note that the longitudinal causal association remains debatable in past research. Limitations of the evidence base were not detailed in the provided information. The practice relevance was not reported.

The results suggest a potential link, but the evidence is observational. Causality cannot be inferred from this synthesis. Clinicians should interpret these findings with caution, as the certainty of the evidence is not reported.

Study Details

Study typeMeta analysis

EvidenceLevel 1

PublishedMay 2026

View Original Abstract ↓

BackgroundHypertension is the major global preventable risk factor in cardiovascular diseases. While traffic noise is a highly disruptive environmental stressor in contemporary cities, its longitudinal causal association with hypertension remains debatable in past research. This study aims to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of high-quality cohort studies to evaluate the correlation between long-term traffic noise exposure and the risk of hypertension in adults.MethodsPubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched to identify relevant published literature. Prospective or retrospective cohort studies examining the relationship between long term exposure to traffic noise with the occurrence of hypertension in adults were incorporated. The quality of the research studies was evaluated based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale methodologically. The association was estimated by data pooling with fixed-or random-effect models and estimated by calculating the HR and its 95%CI.Results11 cohort studies with 1,353,481 participants were included into the present research. The results indicated that in cohorts analyzing traffic noise as a binary variable, higher exposure was significantly associated with an increased risk of hypertension (HR = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.01–1.13, P = 0.03). This finding is highly consistent with the meta-analysis results where traffic noise was treated as a continuous variable (HR = 1.03, 95% CI: 1.02–1.04, P