The effects of aircraft noise on psychosocial health

Abstract

Introduction– Aircraft noise, the most health-threatening source of noise pollution among all modes of transport, is a stressor with identifiable effects on occupants' well-being and social behavior at airports and environs. Methods– This aircraft noise-induced psychosocial health assessment utilized C-weighting to capture peak noise levels with self-reported primary data from a sample size (n = 402) of individuals ages at least 18 years old. Results– The significant contributive powers of distances to the effective aircraft's noise strength experienced were confirmed (p = 0.024). The study reveals that the higher the participants' educational attainment, the higher the likelihood (p = 1 × 10^-4) they are annoyed by aircraft noise. Duration of occupying the airport's environs contributes significantly (p = 0.007). For psychosocial ill-health, a linear periodic-exposure-risk relationship for migraines was found with low risk-estimates of [0.032 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.006–0.175)] and an intense probability of occurrence (p = 1 × 10^-4) during afternoon intervals. With age as a confounding factor, statistical significance was recorded for plausibly hypertension-induced high-blood pressure, depression, and stress. Further, gradients were evidenced at different periods for approximately half of the ailments investigated. Conclusions– Participants were mostly moderately affected psychosocially at different periods of the day by exposure to peak aircraft noise. Thus, it is concluded that noise mitigative and coping strategies be advised to authorities and occupants working or living at airports and environs.