Abstract
Transportation noise is known to have negative impact on both public health and life quality. This study evaluated the relationship between transportation noise and annoyance levels, and also the difference of annoyance levels in two metropolitan cities based on epidemiologic surveys. Two thousand adult subjects living in Seoul and Ulsan were enrolled by stratified random sampling on the basis of noise maps from July 2015 to January 2016. Individual annoyance in accordance with transportation noise levels in two metropolitan cities were surveyed using an 11-point visual analog scale questionnaire. The results show that transportation noise level was significantly correlated with annoyance in both cities. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the risk of being ‘highly annoyed’ increased with noise level (Ldn, day-night average sound level) in both cities. After adjusting for age, residence period, sociodemographic factors (sex, education, marriage, income, alcohol, smoking, and exercise) and noise sensitivity, the risk of being ‘highly annoyed’ was increased with noise levels in both cities. In comparison to those of areas with noise levels below 55 dBA, the adjusted odds ratios of ‘highly annoyed’ for areas with 55–65 dBA and over 65 dBA were 2.056 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.225–3.450), 3.519 (95% CI 1.982–6.246) in Seoul and 1.022 (95% CI 0.585–1.785), 1.704 (95% CI 1.005–2.889) in Ulsan, respectively. Based on the results of a population study, we showed that transportation noise levels were significantly associated with annoyance in adults. However, there were some differences between the two cities. In this study, there were differences in transportation noise between the two cities. Seoul has complex noise (traffic and aircraft), compared to single road traffic noise in Ulsan. Therefore, single and complex transportation noise may have different effects on annoyance levels.
Highlights
Noise refers to unwanted sound and environmental noise is defined as noise from all sources except for industrial workplaces [1]
The present study included a total of 1,836 individuals, 967 (52.7%) and 869 (47.3%) of whom resided in Nam-gu, Ulsan and Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, respectively
A number of previous studies have compared the effects of single noises such as road traffic, aircraft, and train noise [19], the present study is significant in that it considered real-life exposure to complex traffic noise relative to the effects of single environmental noises. The results of this population-based study indicate that exposure to complex noise such as road traffic and aircraft noise is associated with increased annoyance levels compared to annoyance levels to noise exposure to road traffic noise alone, even at similar noise levels. These results remained consistent after controlling for various variables that could affect subjective judgments
Summary
Noise refers to unwanted sound and environmental noise is defined as noise from all sources except for industrial workplaces [1]. The main concern of noise problems was occupational exposure to noise in industrial workplaces. With increasing urban population density due to urbanization and industrialization [2] noise has become an environmental. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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