Environment/Climate Change
Association of Road Traffic Noise with the Risk of New-Onset Epilepsy Tresah Antaya* Tresah Antaya Britney Le Tor Oiamo Piotr Wilk Kathy N Speechley Jorge Burneo
Background
Environmental noise has been associated with the onset and exacerbation of other neurological disorders, but its relationship with new-onset epilepsy has been insufficiently explored. The study’s objective was to assess whether long-term road traffic noise exposure is associated with the risk of new-onset epilepsy among adult residents of Toronto, Canada.
Methods
We conducted a nested case-control study using linked health administrative and environmental data. We included adult residents of Toronto as of January 1, 2010, with no history of seizures or epilepsy. Cases were those who developed epilepsy before December 31, 2016, and were each matched with up to five controls. We measured exposure to road traffic noise using three-year averages of the nighttime average (LAeq, 8 hr), daytime average (LAeq, 16 hr), and the 24-hour average (LAeq, 24 hr) road traffic noise levels at participants’ postal code of residence. We estimated the associations of these three-year averages with the risk of new-onset epilepsy using conditional logistic regression models.
Results
We included 4,608 cases and 20,765 controls; 46.3% were female and the mean age was 48.3 (± 17.4). The median [interquartile range] three-year average noise levels were 54.4 [12.9] dB, 63.3 [11.3] dB, and 60.3 [11.8] dB for LAeq, 8 hr, LAeq, 16 hr, and LAeq, 24 hr, respectively. The odds ratios associated with a 10-dB increase in LAeq, 8 hr was 1.043 (95% CI: 0.994, 1.095), 0.999 (95% CI: 0.946, 1.054) for LAeq, 16 hr, and 1.031 (95% CI: 0.980, 1.086) for LAeq, 24 hr.
Conclusions
Despite our statistically non-significant findings, there may be an association between long-term exposure to road traffic noise, particularly at night, and the risk of new-onset epilepsy. Considering that little research has been published on the association of environmental noise with the risk of new-onset epilepsy, and given its biological plausibility, future research should continue to explore this potential association.