THE IMPACT OF THE AMSTERDAM AIRCRAFT DISASTER ON REPORTED ANNOYANCE BY AIRCRAFT NOISE AND ON PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDERS

Background. On 4 October 1992 a plane crashed on the south-eastern (SE ) borough of Amsterdam. This study examines the effects of this disast er on the reported annoyance caused by aircraft noise and on psychiatr ic disorders measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), in an ongoing Health Interview Survey (HIS). Methods. In the HIS 5092 peopl e were interviewed; 1006 before the accident and 305 in the SE borough . Odds ratios (OR) were computed comparing the period before the disas ter with the 8 months thereafter. Results. After aircraft crossings re started (weeks 3-10 after the disaster) 60.0% of the respondents in th e disaster borough reported annoyance, compared to 36.8% before the ev ent (crude OR = 2.57, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.63-3.04). In the three subsequent 2-month periods these OR for the SE borough steadily decreased. No significant change was found either for the rest of Ams terdam or for the GHQ measure. Logistic regression modelling showed th e increase to be highest immediately after the aircraft crossings rest arted. (OR = 7.50, 95% CI: 2.40-23.4). Conclusions. The results sugges t that fear is related to a heightened sensitivity to noise, but indic ate that this does not lead to widespread psychiatric disorders. The r esults further indicate that this HIS was sufficiently sensitive to sh ow changes in annoyance caused by aircraft noise after such a severe i ncident.