Article,
Effects of night time road traffic noise- An overview of laboratory and field studies on noise dose and subjective noise sensitivity
Journal of Sound and Vibration, (1988)
Abstract
This paper presents an overview of research on sleep and noise at
the Department of Environmental Hygiene, University of Gothenburg.
Different methods were developed to study primary and after effects
of night time road traffic noise on sleep. Three one-week laboratory
experiments were undertaken to study the relevance of different noise
descriptors—Leq, maximum peak noise level and number of events with
high peak noise levels—for sleep disturbance effects. The noise exposure
was either single noise evenys or a continuous, even road traffic
noise. It was concluded that Leq was not related to sleep disturbance
effects. Peak noise levels were significantly related to subjective
sleep quality and body movements. Results from a third continuing
study showed that there is a threshold for effects of the number
of single noise events on sleep quality. Habituation to noise among
subjects with differing noise sensitivity was studied in a two-week
experiment. A significant noise effect on subjective sleep quality
was found among sensitive subjects only. No habituation was seen
for the negative influence of noise on sleep quality, mood and performance.
Long-term effects of road traffic noise were also investigated in
a field survey among 106 individuals. This study revealed the presence
of a decrease in sleep quality as well as psycho-social effects on
tiredness and mood, together with increased reports of headaches
and nervous stomach. As in the laboratory study, sensitive individuals
were more affected by noise than less sensitive individuals.
