Residential Proximity to Major Roadways Is Not Associated with Cardiac Function in African Americans: Results from the Jackson Heart Study.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart failure, is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly among African Americans. Exposure to ambient air pollution, such as that produced by vehicular traffic, is believed to be associated with heart failure, possibly by impairing cardiac function. We evaluated the cross-sectional association between residential proximity to major roads, a marker of long-term exposure to traffic-related pollution, and echocardiographic indicators of left and pulmonary vascular function in African Americans enrolled in the Jackson Heart Study (JHS): left ventricular ejection fraction, E-wave velocity, isovolumic relaxation time, left atrial diameter index, and pulmonary artery systolic pressure. We examined these associations using multivariable linear or logistic regression, adjusting for potential confounders. Of 4866 participants at study enrollment, 106 lived <150 m, 159 lived 150-299 m, 1161 lived 300-999 m, and 3440 lived ≥1000 m from a major roadway. We did not observe any associations between residential distance to major roads and these markers of cardiac function. Results were similar with additional adjustment for diabetes and hypertension, when considering varying definitions of major roadways, or when limiting analyses to those free from cardiovascular disease at baseline. Overall, we observed little evidence that residential proximity to major roads was associated with cardiac function among African Americans.
Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. weaveran@iu.edu.
Anne M
AM
Weaver
School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA. gregory_wellenius@brown.edu.
Gregory A
GA
Wellenius
School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA. wen-chih_wu@brown.edu.
Wen-Chih
WC
Wu
School of Public Health, Jackson State University, Jackson, MI 39217, USA. demarc.a.hickson@jsums.edu.
DeMarc A
DA
Hickson
Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. Masoor.Kamalesh@va.gov.
Masoor
M
Kamalesh
Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. yw54@iu.edu.
Yi
Y
Wang
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000393:Air Pollutants; D000397:Air Pollution; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D001335:Vehicle Emissions
D000393:Air Pollutants; D001335:Vehicle Emissions
African Americans; E-wave velocity; ambient air pollution; cardiac function; distance to road; ejection fraction; isovolumic relaxation time; left atrial diameter index; pulmonary artery systolic pressure