Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Department of Paediatrics, Medical School of São Paulo University, São Paulo, Brazil.
Environ Int. 2022 Jan;158:106961. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106961. Epub 2021 Nov 2.
Noise exposure has been associated with adverse cognitive and behavioral outcomes in children, but evidence on longitudinal associations between community noise and child development in low- and middle-income countries is rare. We investigated associations between community noise and behavioral and cognitive development in preschool children in São Paulo.
We linked child development data from the São Paulo Western Region Birth Cohort with average (Lden) and night-time (Lnight) community noise exposure at children's home, estimated by means of a land use regression model using various predictors (roads, schools, greenness, residential and informal settlements). Outcomes were the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and Regional Project on Child Development Indicators (PRIDI) at 3 years of age and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) at 6 years of age. We investigated the relationship between noise exposure and development using cross-sectional and longitudinal regression models.
Data from 3385 children at 3 years of age and 1546 children at 6 years of age were analysed. Mean Lden and Lnight levels were 70.3 dB and 61.2 dB, respectively. In cross-sectional analyses a 10 dB increase of Lden above 70 dB was associated with a 32% increase in the odds of borderline or abnormal SDQ total difficulties score (OR = 1.32, 95% CI: 1.04; 1.68) and 0.72 standard deviation (SD) increase in the CBCL total problems z-score (95% CI: 0.55; 0.88). No cross-sectional association was found for cognitive development. In longitudinal analyses, each 10 dB increase was associated with a 0.52 SD increase in behavioral problems (95% CI: 0.28; 0.77) and a 0.27 SD decrease in cognition (95%-CI: 0.55; 0.00). Results for Lnight above 60 dB were similar.
Our findings suggest that community noise exposure above Lden of 70 dB and Lnight of 60 dB may impair behavioral and cognitive development of preschool children.
噪声暴露与儿童认知和行为不良结局有关，但在中低收入国家，关于社区噪声与儿童发育之间纵向关联的证据很少。我们调查了圣保罗学龄前儿童社区噪声与行为和认知发育之间的关联。
我们将圣保罗西部地区出生队列的儿童发育数据与家庭平均噪声（Lden）和夜间噪声（Lnight）联系起来，使用土地利用回归模型，使用各种预测因素（道路、学校、绿化、住宅和非正规住区）来估计噪声。结果是 3 岁时的优势和困难问卷（SDQ）和区域儿童发展指标计划（PRIDI）以及 6 岁时的儿童行为检查表（CBCL）和国际发展和早期学习评估（IDELA）。我们使用横断面和纵向回归模型研究了噪声暴露与发育之间的关系。
对 3 岁时的 3385 名儿童和 6 岁时的 1546 名儿童进行了数据分析。平均 Lden 和 Lnight 水平分别为 70.3dB 和 61.2dB。在横断面分析中，Lden 比 70dB 每增加 10dB，SDQ 总分困难得分的边缘或异常几率增加 32%（OR=1.32，95%CI：1.04；1.68），CBCL 总分问题 z 分数增加 0.72 个标准差（95%CI：0.55；0.88）。在认知发育方面，没有发现横断面关联。在纵向分析中，每增加 10dB，行为问题的标准差增加 0.52（95%CI：0.28；0.77），认知能力下降 0.27 个标准差（95%CI：0.55；0.00）。60dB 以上的 Lnight 结果相似。
我们的研究结果表明，Lden 超过 70dB 和 Lnight 超过 60dB 的社区噪声暴露可能会损害学龄前儿童的行为和认知发育。
