Traffic-Related High Sleep Disturbance in the LIFE-Adult Cohort Study: A Comparison to the WHO Exposure-Response-Curves

Melanie Schubert (), Karla Romero Starke, Julia Gerlach, Matthias Reusche, Pauline Kaboth, Wolfram Schmidt, Dieter Friedemann, Janice Hegewald, Hajo Zeeb, Andrea Zülke, Steffi G. Riedel-Heller and Andreas Seidler
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Melanie Schubert: Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Karla Romero Starke: Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Julia Gerlach: Institute of Transport Planning and Road Traffic, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Matthias Reusche: Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, University of Leipzig, 04107 Leipzig, Germany
Pauline Kaboth: Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Wolfram Schmidt: Institute of Transport Planning and Road Traffic, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Dieter Friedemann: CDF, Schallschutz GmbH, 01108 Dresden, Germany
Janice Hegewald: Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Hajo Zeeb: Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Leibniz-Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology—BIPS, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Andrea Zülke: Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Steffi G. Riedel-Heller: Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Andreas Seidler: Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: Sleep is negatively affected by environmental noise. In the present study, we investigated self-reported high sleep disturbances (being “highly sleep disturbed”—HSD) from road traffic (primary and secondary road networks), rail (train and tram) and air traffic noise in the LIFE-Adult cohort study in Leipzig, Germany. For this, we used exposure data from 2012 and outcome data of Wave 2 (collected during 2018–2021). HSD was determined and defined according to internationally standardized norms. The highest risk for transportation noise-related HSD was found for aircraft noise: the odds ratio (OR) was 19.66, 95% CI 11.47–33.71 per 10 dB increase in L night . For road and rail traffic, similar risk estimates were observed (road: OR = 2.86, 95% CI 1.92–4.28; rail: OR = 2.67, 95% CI 2.03–3.50 per 10 dB L night increase). Further, we compared our exposure-risk curves with the curves of the WHO environmental noise guidelines for the European region. The proportion of individuals with HSD for a given noise level was lower for rail traffic but higher for aircraft noise in the LIFE study than in the WHO curves. For road traffic, curves are not directly comparable because we also included the secondary road network. The results of our study add to the body of evidence for increased health risks by traffic noise. Moreover, the results indicate that aircraft noise is particularly harmful to health. We recommend reconsidering threshold values for nightly aircraft exposure.

Keywords: self-reported high sleep disturbance; HSD; traffic noise; road; rail; air; WHO environmental noise guideline (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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