Jenny Selander

Research problem and specific questionsUrban living environments challenge the individual’s capacity to maintain a good health throughout the course of life. In Sweden, current trends in housing and neighborhood conditions tend to further increase disparities in health. The rapid urbanization and densification of Stockholm County makes it an optimal setting for studying health effects of urban living, for example in relation to air quality, transportation noise, urban greenness, climate change and overcrowded housing. In this program, we aim to assess and develop strategies for building a sustainable city promoting equitable public health among inhabitants of urbanized areas.Data and methodsThe program will use a variety of different data materials and methods. To map environmental hazards in Stockholm County, a new GIS-based tool aimed at regional stakeholders will be developed. A new cohort, based on the National Environmental Health Survey 2023, will form the basis for analyses of environmental health associations and estimates of disease burden. Furthermore, the effects on children’s development, education and health from overcrowded housing will be investigated in a nation-wide cohort study and in an intervention setting. In a literature review, we will summarize evidence on environmental interventions which can guide stakeholders in implementing planning and mitigation measures.Relevance and utilizationThe national Commission for Equity in Health listed 7 key areas of life which determine health inequalities. Among these, the intended program has a focus on Housing and neighborhood conditions but is also of relevance for aspects of Early life development, Health behavior, and Control, influence and participation. By this program, we aim to establish a strong research infrastructure for monitoring and assessing the impact of the built environment on public health and for the promotion of environmental health equity. This is in line with several other initiatives and governing documents within Sweden, e.g. “Health as a driving force for the environmental goals and sustainable development”, initiated by Miljömålsrådet.Plan for program realizationThe program will be carried out at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, in collaboration with the Center for Occupational and Environmental medicine, Region Stockholm, and builds on six different work packages, each with its specific aims, activities, and deliverables. The researchers of the program represent many different disciplines, spanning from environmental medicine, public health and epidemiology to GIS, nursing and multicultural psychiatry, and will work closely together in the different work-packages. To ensure a good dialogue with end-users of our research, we will host, and take part in, an array of activities throughout the program progression, e.g. via reference groups, seminars, workshops, regional networks and other applied activities.

Traffic noise is an environmental exposure of growing concern with mounting evidence of serious adverse health effects. At least one in five Europeans (113 million people) are exposed to noise levels exceeding the European Environment Agency indicator level linked to harmful health effects. Besides the increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic effects, hearing loss, and sleep disturbance, recent studies have indicated that prolonged exposure to noise might accelerate the risk of cognitive impairment, dementia, anxiety, and depression.We take advantage of the pre-existing data within the Nordic Studies on Occupational and Traffic Noise in Relation to Disease (NordSOUND) project, comprising over 185 000 adults from 5 Swedish and 2 Danish cohorts, to investigate whether exposure to traffic and occupational noise is related to dementia and mental health (depression, and anxiety) and to reveal potential mechanisms. We will adjust for individual- and area-level covariates to enable increased precision in the assessment of associations. We will also adjust for residential air pollution exposure and lack of greenness to explore the potential interactions.This collaborative research effort will address a considerable knowledge gap regarding noise exposure, dementia and mental health. Our results may have significant implications for risk assessment and public health policy, especially considering the recently relaxed noise guidelines in Sweden and the rapid urban growth.