Abstract
BackgroundWhile noise annoyance has become recognized as an important environmental stressor, its association to mental health has hardly been studied. We therefore determined the association of noise annoyance to anxiety and depression and explored the contribution of diverse environmental sources to overall noise annoyance.Patients and MethodsWe investigated cross-sectional data of n = 15.010 participants of the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS), a population-based, prospective, single-center cohort study in Mid-Germany (age 35 to 74 years). Noise annoyance was assessed separately for road traffic, aircraft, railways, industrial, neighborhood indoor and outdoor noise (“during the day”; “in your sleep”) on 5-point scales (“not at all” to “extremely”); depression and anxiety were assessed by the PHQ-9, resp. GAD-2.ResultsDepression and anxiety increased with the degree of overall noise annoyance. Compared to no annoyance, prevalence ratios for depression, respectively anxiety increased from moderate (PR depression 1.20; 95%CI 1.00 to 1.45; PR anxiety 1.42; 95% CI 1.15 to 1.74) to extreme annoyance (PR depression 1.97; 95%CI 1.62 to 2.39; PR anxiety 2.14; 95% CI 1.71 to 2.67). Compared to other sources, aircraft noise annoyance was prominent affecting almost 60% of the population.InterpretationStrong noise annoyance was associated with a two-fold higher prevalence of depression and anxiety in the general population. While we could not relate annoyance due to aircraft noise directly to depression and anxiety, we established that it was the major source of annoyance in the sample, exceeding the other sources in those strongly annoyed. Prospective follow-up data will address the issue of causal relationships between annoyance and mental health.
Highlights
Noise, defined as ‘unwanted sound’ has gradually become increasingly acknowledged as an environmental stressor and as a nuisance [1]
Noise Annoyance Is Associated with Distress in the General Population
The present study shows that the degree of noise annoyance reported by people living in the vicinity of the Frankfurt Airport and taking part in the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS) is strongly associated with the degree of depression and anxiety
Summary
Noise, defined as ‘unwanted sound’ has gradually become increasingly acknowledged as an environmental stressor and as a nuisance [1]. If exposure to noise is chronic and exceeds certain levels, adverse health outcomes can be seen. According to the noise reaction model, two principal pathways are relevant for the development of adverse health effects of noise [4]. These refer to the ‘direct’ and the ‘indirect’ arousal and activation of the organism. Noise level and noise annoyance have been shown to be associated with cardiovascular disorders. Both reaction chains may initiate physiological stress reactions. While noise annoyance has become recognized as an important environmental stressor, its association to mental health has hardly been studied. We determined the association of noise annoyance to anxiety and depression and explored the contribution of diverse environmental sources to overall noise annoyance
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