Short-term association between road traffic noise and healthcare demand generated by Parkinson's disease in Madrid, Spain

Abstract

Objective: To analyse whether there is a short-term association between road traffic noise in the city of Madrid and Parkinson's disease (PD)-related demand for healthcare.

Methods: Time-series analysis (2008-2009) using variables of analysis linked to emergency and daily PD-related demand for healthcare (ICD-10: G20-G21), namely, PD-hospital admissions (HAs), PD-outpatient visits (OVs) and PD-emergency medical calls in Madrid. The noise pollution measurements used were Leqd, equivalent sound level for the daytime hours (from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.), and Leqn, equivalent sound level for night time hours (from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.) in dB(A). We controlled for temperature, pollution, trends and seasons, and used the Poisson regression model to calculate relative risk (RR).

Results: The association between Leqd and HAs was found to be linear. Leqd and Leqn at lag 0.1 and temperature at lags 1 and 5 were the only environmental variables associated with increased PD-related healthcare demand. The RR (lag 0) for Leqd and HA was 1.07 (1.04-1.09), the RR (lag 0) for Leqd and OV was 1.28 (1.12-1.45), and the RR (lags 0.1) for Leqn and emergency medical calls was 1.46 (1.06-2.01).

Conclusion: The above results indicate that road traffic noise is a risk factor for PD exacerbation. Measures to reduce noise-exposure levels could result in a lower PD-related healthcare demand.

Keywords: Demanda de atención médica; Enfermedad de Parkinson; Hospital admissions; Ingresos hospitalarios; Outpatient care demand; Parkinson's disease; Road traffic noise; Ruido de tráfico; Series temporales; Time series.