AN ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIPS AMONG ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE, ANNOYANCE ANDSENSITIVITY TO NOISE, AND THE CONSEQUENCES FOR HEALTH AND SLEEP

The complex relationship among long-term exposure to environmental noi se, self-reports of health, and sleep was investigated in a multifacto rial design. Forty-seven women and 35 men living beside a street with moderate to heavy traffic took part. They answered questions concernin g health complaints, usual sleep patterns, sleep the actual week of te sting, their subjective responses to noise, psychosocial relations, an xiety, stressful life events, type A behavior, and attitudinal factors that could explain their responses to noise. No detrimental relations among objective noise levels, health, and sleep could be shown. There were, however, strong correlations between the subjective noise respo nses of annoyance and sensitivity and health complaints. Only women re vealed a relationship between poor sleep quality and sensitivity. The stronger relationship among noise sensitivity, health complaints, and poor sleep quality for women than for men could be explained by the de gree of exposure to noise as evidenced by their longer residence and g reater time spent at home.