Road Noise and Hypertension: People living in homes exposed to high levels of road-traffic noise were more likely to report having hypertension, according to a study in Environmental Health. The researchers used maps and traffic data to estimate the noise levels for the addresses of more than 24,000 Swedish subjects. They found that people exposed to an average traffic-noise level above 64 decibels （slightly louder than a normal conversation） were 52% more likely than people exposed to 45 decibels of road noise to report having high blood pressure, a key risk factor for heart disease, after controlling for age, socioeconomic status, and other variables. Exposure to road noise between 60 decibels and 64 decibels was associated with a risk of hypertension 15% above the minimally exposed group. Previous studies have hypothesized that noise exposure could cause hypertension by persistently elevating the body's level of stress hormones.

Caveat: The researchers couldn't account for the presence of noise barriers or the floor level on which the subjects lived, factors that would influence traffic-noise exposure. Previous studies have found a large discrepancy between self-reported hypertension and actual clinical diagnoses.

道路噪音与高血压：根据《环境健康》（Environmental Health）的一项研究，在交通噪音水平较高的房屋中居住的人出现高血压的可能性更大。研究人员使用地图和交通数据对瑞典24,000多人的住所噪音进行了估算。他们发现，在排除了年龄、社会经济地位和其它变量的情况下，身处平均交通噪音水平64分贝（比正常谈话略高）以上的人群出现高血压的可能性比道路噪音45分贝中的人群高出了52%.高血压是心脏病的一项主要风险因子。如果暴露在60至64分贝的道路噪音中，出现高血压的风险比最小暴露组要高出15%.以前的研究推测，暴露在噪音中可能会因持续提高人体应激激素水平而引发高血压。

注意：研究人员并未考虑研究对象所居住环境中是否有隔音屏障以及居住楼层的差别，这些因素会影响暴露在交通噪音中的水平。以前的研究已发现，自己报告的高血压与实际临床诊断之间存在很大差异。