Long-term community noise exposure in relation to dementia, cognition, and cognitive decline in older adults

Introduction: Exposure to noise might influence risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia. Methods: Participants of the Chicago Health and Aging Project (>65 years) underwent triennial cognitive assessments. For the 5 years preceding each assessment, we estimated 5227 participants' residential level of noise from the community using a spatial prediction model, and estimated associations of noise level with prevalent mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD, cognitive performance, and rate of cognitive decline. Results: Among these participants, an increment of 10 A-weighted decibels (dBA) in noise corresponded to 36% and 29% higher odds of prevalent MCI (odds ratio [OR] = 1.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15 to 1.62) and AD (OR = 1.29, 95% CI, 1.08 to 1.55). Noise level was associated with worse global cognitive performance, principally in perceptual speed (-0.09 standard deviation per 10 dBA, 95% CI: -0.16 to -0.03), but not consistently associated with cognitive decline. Discussion: These results join emerging evidence suggesting that noise may influence late-life cognition and risk of dementia.

Automated summary

The study found that an increase in noise level was associated with higher odds of prevalent MCI and AD, as well as worse global cognitive performance, mainly in perceptual speed. However, the association with cognitive decline was not consistent.