Long-Term Exposure To Air Pollution And Traffic Noise And Global Cognitive Score – Results From The Heinz Nixdorf-Recall Study

Introduction: Investigations of adverse effects of air pollution (AP) and ambient noise on cogni-tive function are scarce, and their results are inconsistent. The aim of this study was to analyze the associations of long-term exposure to AP and traffic noise with a global cognitive score (GCS) in single and two-exposure models. Data: Our analysis is based on cross-sectional data from the first follow-up examination (2006-2008) of the population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall study, located in three adjacent in the highly urbanized German Ruhr Area. Methods: Cognitive performance was completed in 4086 of 4157 participants using five subtests: verbal fluency, labyrinth test, immediate and delayed verbal recall, and clock-drawing tests. The GCS was additively calculated using age- and education-specific z scores of the five subtests. We assessed long-term residential concentrations for size-specific particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides with land use regression and dispersion models, and traffic noise (wei...