Psycho-social effects of traffic noise exposure
Journal of Sound and Vibration, (1991)Abstract
In this paper a study of psycho-social effects of exposure to high
levels of road traffic noise is presented. A questionnaire was constructed
to evaluate not only annoyance reactions and sleep disturbance effects
of noise, but also more long-term effects on psycho-social well-being
(PSW). PSW was evaluated by 26 questions concerning depression, relaxation,
activity, passivity, general well-being and social orientation. The
postal questionnaire was answered by 151 persons in a quiet city
area and 97 persons in an area exposed to an Leq level of 72 dB(A).
The results showed that a higher proportion of those who lived in
the noisy area in apartments with windows facing the street more
often felt depressed. Those who had windows facing the courtyard,
in the noisy area, however, were not more depressed that those who
lived in the quiet area. Methodological difficulties in this type
of study are also discussed in the paper.