Environmental noise exposure and autoimmune diseases: Evidence from a national cohort study

Exposure to environmental noise is an inevitable factor and may pose a risk to health conditions, even potentially affecting the immune system. However, the relationship between noise exposure and autoimmune diseases has not been well explored. This study aimed to investigate whether noise exposure...

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Main Authors: Seunghyun Lee, Yongho Lee, Wanhyung Lee, Xiaoxue Ma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651325000107
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author Seunghyun Lee
Yongho Lee
Wanhyung Lee
Xiaoxue Ma
author_facet Seunghyun Lee
Yongho Lee
Wanhyung Lee
Xiaoxue Ma
author_sort Seunghyun Lee
collection DOAJ
description Exposure to environmental noise is an inevitable factor and may pose a risk to health conditions, even potentially affecting the immune system. However, the relationship between noise exposure and autoimmune diseases has not been well explored. This study aimed to investigate whether noise exposure is associated with an increased risk of autoimmune diseases in South Korea. We analyzed data from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) cohort from 2013 to 2019. Environmental noise data were provided by the National Noise Information System (NNIS) and spatially interpolated using empirical Bayes kriging (EBK) to estimate noise levels at the district level. Both daytime and nighttime noise were assessed, with mean noise exposure values calculated for each administrative district. The HR were estimated using the Cox proportional hazards model, along with standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for autoimmune diseases. A trend analysis was also performed to examine the association between cumulative noise exposure and autoimmune disease incidence. High noise exposure was significantly associated with an increased risk of autoimmune diseases (HR 1.03; 95 % CI: 1.01–1.05), including higher SIRs for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Hashimoto’s disease, and Graves’ disease. A significant trend was observed, with greater noise exposure correlating with higher autoimmune disease incidence, particularly for total and daytime noise. This study provides evidence of a significant association between high environmental noise exposure and increased risk of autoimmune diseases, indicating noise as a modifiable risk factor.
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spelling doaj-art-2dca6d15920842feb1243d094af8d2c82025-01-23T05:26:03ZengElsevierEcotoxicology and Environmental Safety0147-65132025-01-01289117674Environmental noise exposure and autoimmune diseases: Evidence from a national cohort studySeunghyun Lee0Yongho Lee1Wanhyung Lee2Xiaoxue Ma3Department of Convergence Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Republic of KoreaSamsung Health Research Institute, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Pediatrics, The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China; Corresponding author.Exposure to environmental noise is an inevitable factor and may pose a risk to health conditions, even potentially affecting the immune system. However, the relationship between noise exposure and autoimmune diseases has not been well explored. This study aimed to investigate whether noise exposure is associated with an increased risk of autoimmune diseases in South Korea. We analyzed data from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) cohort from 2013 to 2019. Environmental noise data were provided by the National Noise Information System (NNIS) and spatially interpolated using empirical Bayes kriging (EBK) to estimate noise levels at the district level. Both daytime and nighttime noise were assessed, with mean noise exposure values calculated for each administrative district. The HR were estimated using the Cox proportional hazards model, along with standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for autoimmune diseases. A trend analysis was also performed to examine the association between cumulative noise exposure and autoimmune disease incidence. High noise exposure was significantly associated with an increased risk of autoimmune diseases (HR 1.03; 95 % CI: 1.01–1.05), including higher SIRs for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Hashimoto’s disease, and Graves’ disease. A significant trend was observed, with greater noise exposure correlating with higher autoimmune disease incidence, particularly for total and daytime noise. This study provides evidence of a significant association between high environmental noise exposure and increased risk of autoimmune diseases, indicating noise as a modifiable risk factor.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651325000107Autoimmune diseaseEnvironmental noiseEpidemiologyInflammationEnvironmental health
spellingShingle Seunghyun Lee
Yongho Lee
Wanhyung Lee
Xiaoxue Ma
Environmental noise exposure and autoimmune diseases: Evidence from a national cohort study
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
Autoimmune disease
Environmental noise
Epidemiology
Inflammation
Environmental health
title Environmental noise exposure and autoimmune diseases: Evidence from a national cohort study
title_full Environmental noise exposure and autoimmune diseases: Evidence from a national cohort study
title_fullStr Environmental noise exposure and autoimmune diseases: Evidence from a national cohort study
title_full_unstemmed Environmental noise exposure and autoimmune diseases: Evidence from a national cohort study
title_short Environmental noise exposure and autoimmune diseases: Evidence from a national cohort study
title_sort environmental noise exposure and autoimmune diseases evidence from a national cohort study
topic Autoimmune disease
Environmental noise
Epidemiology
Inflammation
Environmental health
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651325000107
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AT yongholee environmentalnoiseexposureandautoimmunediseasesevidencefromanationalcohortstudy
AT wanhyunglee environmentalnoiseexposureandautoimmunediseasesevidencefromanationalcohortstudy
AT xiaoxuema environmentalnoiseexposureandautoimmunediseasesevidencefromanationalcohortstudy