Health effects of exposure to aircraft noise

Abstract

TPS 781: Health effects of noise, Exhibition Hall, Ground floor, August 27, 2019, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Background and Aims: Noise pollution is an increasing problem in modern society and several studies have documented non-auditory health effects of aircraft noise. We performed a cross-sectional study in June-September 2013 among adults living near the Orio al Serio International Airport (Italy), to investigate the effects of aircraft noise on annoyance, sleep disorders, blood pressure levels, and hypertension. Methods: Residential addresses of subjects aged 45-70 years were geocoded and classified in three categories of noise levels: Reference Zone (<60 dBA), Zone A (60-65 dBA), Zone B (65-75 dBA). Enrolled subjects underwent a personal interview (on demographics, clinical history, drug use, annoyance, sleep disorders, and noise exposure from different sources) and blood pressure (BP) measurements. We applied multivariable linear and robust Poisson regression models, adjusted for gender, age, education, BMI, cigarette smoking, last occupation, airport-related job, annoyance from road traffic noise, and anti-hypertensive drug use (analyses on BP only). Results: We enrolled 166 subjects in the Reference Zone, 164 in Zone A, and 70 in Zone B. Average levels of annoyance (either at day or night) from airport-related activities were higher than those from other sources and showed a trend across acoustic zones (+2.7 in Zone A, +4.0 in Zone B, p-trend < 0.001). Compared to referents, subjects in Zones A and B reported a greater frequency of sleep disorders in the month before the interview as well as in general (prevalence ratio: 1.34 in Zone A, 1.82 in Zone B, p-trend = 0.01). We did not highlight a relationship with BP levels or prevalence of hypertension across zones. Conclusions: The findings on noise-related subjective disorders suggest the need of further preventive actions, including structural interventions in houses (where needed), increased efforts to reduce aircraft noise, and the implementation of periodical monitoring programs of residents’ health (adults and children).