1. Noise Annoyance and Health-Related Quality of Life David Welch Daniel Shepherd Kim Dirks Renata Mathews

2. Plan of Talk Noise How is health affected? Mechanisms Research

3. Noise Noise is Sound: Sound is Noise Usages: –Potentially damaging sound –Unwanted/annoying sound

4. Noise Sensitivity Stable personality trait (Zimmer & Ellermeier, 1999) Pay attention to sound Negative evaluation Strong emotional response

5. Noise Annoyance Depends on: Noise Sensitivity Age (inverted-U function) (van Gerven et al., 2009) Attitude to the noise source (Maris et al., 2007) Only weakly correlated to noise level

6. Effects of Noise Annoyance Interference with sleep Interference with performance Interference with communication Mental health Physical health

7. Model for Noise Effects Miedema, H. M. E. (2007). Annoyance caused by environmental noise: Elements for evidence- based noise policies. Journal of Social Issues, 63(1), 41-57.

8. Health Effects of Noise Noise causes “stress” Stress is associated with activation of systems through the body –Autonomic Nervous System –Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis

9. Autonomic Nervous System Sympathetic and Parasympathetic divisions act in opposition for allostasis (homeostasis) Sympathetic dominance is associated with arousal: –increased heart rate, –increased blood flow to muscle, –decreased blood flow to the periphery and the digestive system, –sleep disturbances (see below)

10. Hypothalamic-Pituitary- Adrenal Axis Reflects the emotional response to stress Involved in mental health disorders –Anxiety disorders –Depression/Dysthymia

11. Sleep Sleep appears to be important for health An ‘Arousal’ involves moving from deeper to lighter stages of sleep without necessarily awakening. Arousals can impair the effectiveness of sleep so that a person is tired even though they have not awakened during the night.

12. Aeroplane Noise Stress During ascent, jet engines are under power and are closer to listeners on the ground On the flight paths from an airport, noise is frequent but intermittent. Aeroplane noise grows to a peak as the ‘plane approaches the listener then fades away.

13. Participants 104 people living on Auckland Airport flightpaths All were exposed to noise from low-flying aeroplanes Average aircraft noise levels ranged from 55- 65 dB(A)

14. Questionnaires Noise Sensitivity Noise Annoyance Sleep World Health Organisation Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQoL-Bref) –Physical –Psychological –Social –Environmental

15. Noise Sensitivity Predicts: Health:AssociationP-value Global Quality of Life -0.2880.003 Self-rated health-0.1560.118 Physical-0.2330.019 Psychological-0.356<0.001 Social-0.1290.217 Environmental-0.2850.004

16. Noise Annoyance Mediates: Health:AssociationP-value Global Quality of Life -0.0970.338 Self-rated health-0.2300.026 Physical-0.2420.018 Psychological-0.1930.049 Social-0.2300.035 Environmental-0.1920.059

17. Sleep Mediates: Health:AssociationP-value Global Quality of Life 0.345<0.001 Self-rated health0.346<0.001 Physical0.376<0.001 Psychological0.528<0.001 Social0.398<0.001 Environmental0.511<0.001

18. Model of Noise Effects NIHL Sleep Disturbance Annoyance Noise Sensitivity Sound Health Effects

19. Noise and Stress Noise is ambient Stress is associated with perceived lack of control Low SES people live in noisier areas Low SES people have fewer resources

20. Conclusions A theoretical basis exists for noise affecting health Research supports there being a problem The problem kills people: the very people who are least able to do anything about it. What can we do about it?