Residential Traffic Exposure, Pulse Pressure, and C-reactive Protein: Consistency and Contrast among Exposure Characterization Methods

BACKGROUND: Traffic exposure may increase cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk via systemic inflammation and elevated blood pressure, two important clinical markers for managing disease progression. OBJECTIVES: We assessed degree and consistency of association between traffic exposure indicators as predictors of C-reactive protein (CRP) and pulse pressure (PP) in an adult U.S. Puerto Rican population (n = 1,017). METHODS: Cross-sectional information on health and demographics and blood data was collected. Using multiple linear regression, we tested for associations between CRP, PP, and six traffic exposure indicators including residential proximity to roads with > 20,000 vehicles/day and traffic density [vehicle miles traveled per square mile (VMT/mi²)]. Diabetes and obesity [body mass index (BMI) < 30 kg/m²] were tested as effect modifiers. RESULTS: CRP was positively associated with traffic density in the total population [36% CRP difference with 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.5-81%] for residence within the highest versus lowest VMT/mi 2 level. With BMI > 30, CRP showed significant positive associations with five of six traffic indices including residence 200 m versus > 200 m of a roadway [22.7% CRP difference (95% CI, 3.15-46.1)] and traffic density in the third highest versus lowest VMT/mi 2 level [28.1% difference (95% CI, 1.0-62.6)]. PP was positively associated with residence within 30 [3.8 mmHg (95% CI, 0.88-6.8)]. Effect estimates approximately doubled for residence within