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Residential exposure to road and railway traffic noise and incidence of dementia: The UK Biobank cohort study
Enock Havyarimana, Xiangpu Gong, Calvin Jephcote, Sarah Johnson, Sana Suri, Wuxiang Xie, Charlotte Clark, Anna Hansell et al.. Environmental Research, 2025-05-06
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background Evidence linking noise pollution and brain health, particularly at mid-to-late life, remains scarce. We investigated the associations between long-term exposure to road and railway traffic noise and incident dementia in the UK Biobank cohort. Methods Participants with available data for dementia incidence and linked traffic noise exposure during follow-up were included. Residential road traffic noise from both minor and major roads were calculated in accordance with CNOSSOS-EU framework; railway noise estimates were created by Extrium, with the raster datasets representing noise contributions from major railway corridors. Cox regression was used to quantify the associations between transport noise and incident dementia (incl. its subtypes), adjusting for potential confounders, air pollution and greenness. Results Of the full cohort (n=502,416), 7,668 participants had incident dementia during a median follow-up period of 9.67 years. No associations were found between all cause dementia incidence and road or railway noise. However, a 10-decibel (dB) higher exposure in annual mean road traffic noise (L den ) was significantly associated with incident Alzheimer’s disease (HR:1.150, 95% CI: 1.022-1.294). The effect estimate was slightly higher when participants were exposed to night-time road noise above 45dB (HR:1.188, 95% CI:1.012-1.394) and were mediated by cardiovascular health profile. Railway noise (L den ) was significantly associated with incident Parkinson’s disease related dementia (HR:1.042, 95% CI:1.005-1.081), however, the effect estimate was slightly reduced after further adjustment of air pollution and residential greenness (HR:1.037, 95% CI:0.998-1.077). Conclusion Distinct associations between different traffic noise exposures and incident dementia subtypes were found in this large UK prospective cohort study.
Key findings
- Results Of the full cohort (n=502,416), 7,668 participants had incident dementia during a median follow-up period of 9.67 years.
- However, a 10-decibel (dB) higher exposure in annual mean road traffic noise (L den ) was significantly associated with incident Alzheimer’s disease (HR:1.150, 95% CI: 1.022-1.294).
- Railway noise (L den ) was significantly associated with incident Parkinson’s disease related dementia (HR:1.042, 95% CI:1.005-1.081), however, the effect estimate was slightly reduced after further adjustment of air pollution and residential greenness (HR:1.037, 95% CI:0.998-1.077).
Why it matters
No association was found between all-cause dementia and road or railway noise, but a 10-decibel higher annual mean road traffic noise was significantly associated with incident Alzheimer's disease. Railway noise was significantly associated with incident Parkinson's disease related dementia, though the effect estimate was slightly reduced after adjustment.
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Study details
- Study designcohort study
- Participants502,416
- Effect sizeHR:1.150; HR:1.188; HR:1.042
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 63/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a cohort study following people over time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Environmental Research) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Environmental Research: journal h-index 259 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A cohort study following people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 4 / 4 | 502,416 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 2 / 7 | Cited 13 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 4.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 18.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 13 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Yutong Samuel Cai: h-index 26 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Oxford: institution h-index 2,205 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 9 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40335007) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 63 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.121787
- PubMed: 40335007
- Original source →
- Free full text: Environmental Research →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Havyarimana, E., Gong, X., Jephcote, C., Johnson, S., Suri, S., Xie, W., et al. (2025). Residential exposure to road and railway traffic noise and incidence of dementia: The UK Biobank cohort study. Environmental Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2025.121787
Vancouver
Havyarimana E, Gong X, Jephcote C, Johnson S, Suri S, Xie W, et al. Residential exposure to road and railway traffic noise and incidence of dementia: The UK Biobank cohort study. Environmental Research. 2025. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2025.121787. PMID: 40335007.
BibTeX
@article{havyarimana2025-40335007,
author = {Havyarimana, Enock and Gong, Xiangpu and Jephcote, Calvin and Johnson, Sarah and Suri, Sana and Xie, Wuxiang and Clark, Charlotte and Hansell, Anna and others},
title = {{Residential exposure to road and railway traffic noise and incidence of dementia: The UK Biobank cohort study}},
journal = {Environmental Research},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1016/j.envres.2025.121787},
pmid = {40335007},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2025.121787}
}
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