Pooling and Comparing Noise Annoyance Scores and "High Annoyance" (HA) Responses on the 5-Point and 11-Point Scales: Principles and Practical Advice.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Brink M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8306719 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:In 2001, Team#6 of the International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise (ICBEN) recommended the use of two single international standardised questions and response scales. This recommendation has been widely accepted in the scientific community. Nevertheless, annoyance can be regarded as a multidimensional construct comprising the three elements: (1) experience of an often repeated noise-related disturbance and the behavioural response to cope with it, (2) an emotional/attitudinal response to the sound and its disturbing impact, and (3) the perceived control or coping capacity with regard to the noise situation. The psychometric properties of items reflecting these three elements have been explored for aircraft noise annoyance. Analyses were conducted using data of the NORAH-Study (Noise-Related Annoyance, Cognition, and Health), and a multi-item noise annoyance scale (MIAS) has been developed and tested post hoc by using a stepwise process (exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses). Preliminary results were presented to the 12th ICBEN Congress in 2017. In this study, the validation of MIAS is done for aircraft noise and extended to railway and road traffic noise. The results largely confirm the concept of MIAS as a second-order construct of annoyance for all of the investigated transportation noise sources; however, improvements can be made, in particular with regard to items addressing the perceived coping capacity.
| S-EPMC5982010 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundBoth physical and psychological health outcomes have been associated with exposure to environmental noise. Noise sensitivity could have the same moderating effect on physical and psychological health outcomes related to environmental noise exposure as on annoyance but this has been little tested.MethodsA cohort of 2398 men between 45 and 59 years, the longitudinal Caerphilly Collaborative Heart Disease study, was established in 1984/88 and followed into the mid-1990s. Road traffic noise maps were assessed at baseline. Psychological ill-health was measured in phase 2 in 1984/88, phase 3 (1989/93) and phase 4 (1993/7). Ischaemic heart disease was measured in clinic at baseline and through hospital records and records of deaths during follow up. We examined the longitudinal associations between road traffic noise and ischaemic heart disease morbidity and mortality using Cox Proportional Hazard Models and psychological ill-health using Logistic Regression; we also examined whether noise sensitivity and noise annoyance might moderate these associations. We also tested if noise sensitivity and noise annoyance were longitudinal predictors of ischaemic heart disease morbidity and mortality and psychological ill-health.ResultsRoad traffic noise was not associated with ischaemic heart disease morbidity or mortality. Neither noise sensitivity nor noise annoyance moderated the effects of road traffic noise on ischaemic heart disease morbidity or mortality. High noise sensitivity was associated with lower ischaemic heart disease mortality risk (HR = 0.74, 95%CI 0.57, 0.97). Road traffic noise was associated with Phase 4 psychological ill-health but only among those exposed to 56-60dBA (fully adjusted OR = 1.82 95%CI 1.07, 3.07). Noise sensitivity moderated the association of road traffic noise exposure with psychological ill-health. High noise sensitivity was associated longitudinally with psychological ill-health at phase 3 (OR = 1.85 95%CI 1.23, 2.78) and phase 4 (OR = 1.65 95%CI 1.09, 2.50). Noise annoyance predicted psychological ill-health at phase 4 (OR = 2.47 95%CI 1.00, 6.13).ConclusionsNoise sensitivity is a specific predictor of psychological ill-health and may be part of a wider construct of environmental susceptibility. Noise sensitivity may increase the risk of psychological ill-health when exposed to road traffic noise. Noise annoyance may be a mediator of the effects of road traffic noise on psychological ill-health.
| S-EPMC7995714 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The type of noise annoyance scale and aspects of its presentation such as response format or location within a questionnaire and other contextual factors may affect self-reported noise annoyance. By means of a balanced experimental design, the effect of type of annoyance question and corresponding scale (5-point verbal vs. 11-point numerical ICBEN (International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise) scale), presentation order of scale points (ascending vs. descending), question location (early vs. late within the questionnaire), and survey season (autumn vs. spring) on reported road traffic noise annoyance was investigated in a postal survey with a stratified random sample of 2386 Swiss residents. Our results showed that early appearance of annoyance questions was significantly associated with higher annoyance scores. Questionnaires filled out in autumn were associated with a significantly higher annoyance rating than in the springtime. No effect was found for the order of response alternatives. Standardized average annoyance scores were slightly higher using the 11-point numerical scale whereas the percentage of highly annoyed respondents was higher based on the 5-point scale, using common cutoff points. In conclusion, placement and presentation of annoyance questions within a questionnaire, as well as the time of the year a survey is carried out, have small but demonstrable effects on the degree of self-reported noise annoyance.
| S-EPMC5129373 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The aim of this study is to compare vibration exposure to noise exposure from railway traffic in terms of equal annoyance, i.e., to determine when a certain noise level is equally annoying as a corresponding vibration velocity. Based on questionnaire data from the Train Vibration and Noise Effects (TVANE) research project from residential areas exposed to railway noise and vibration, the dose response relationship for annoyance was estimated. By comparing the relationships between exposure and annoyance for areas both with and without significant vibration exposure, the noise levels and vibration velocities that had an equal probability of causing annoyance was determined using logistic regression. The comparison gives a continuous mapping between vibration velocity in the ground and a corresponding noise level at the facade that are equally annoying. For equivalent noise level at the facade compared to maximum weighted vibration velocity in the ground the probability of annoyance is approximately 20% for 59 dB or 0.48 mm/s, and about 40% for 63 dB or 0.98 mm/s.
| S-EPMC5551243 | biostudies-other
Project description:Background: This paper describes a systematic review and meta-analyses on effects of environmental noise on annoyance. The noise sources include aircraft, road, and rail transportation noise as well as wind turbines and noise source combinations. Objectives: Update knowledge about effects of environmental noise on people living in the vicinity of noise sources. Methods: Eligible were published studies (2000-2014) providing comparable acoustical and social survey data including exposure-response functions between standard indicators of noise exposure and standard annoyance responses. The systematic literature search in 20 data bases resulted in 62 studies, of which 57 were used for quantitative meta-analyses. By means of questionnaires sent to the study authors, additional study data were obtained. Risk of bias was assessed by means of study characteristics for individual studies and by funnel plots to assess the risk of publication bias. Main Results: Tentative exposure-response relations for percent highly annoyed residents (%HA) in relation to noise levels for aircraft, road, rail, wind turbine and noise source combinations are presented as well as meta-analyses of correlations between noise levels and annoyance raw scores, and the OR for increase of %HA with increasing noise levels. Quality of evidence was assessed using the GRADE terminology. The evidence of exposure-response relations between noise levels and %HA is moderate (aircraft and railway) or low (road traffic and wind turbines). The evidence of correlations between noise levels and annoyance raw scores is high (aircraft and railway) or moderate (road traffic and wind turbines). The evidence of ORs representing the %HA increase by a certain noise level increase is moderate (aircraft noise), moderate/high (road and railway traffic), and low (wind turbines). Strengths and Limitations: The strength of the evidence is seen in the large total sample size encompassing the included studies (e.g., 18,947 participants in aircraft noise studies). Main limitations are due to the variance in the definition of noise levels and %HA. Interpretation: The increase of %HA in newer studies of aircraft, road and railway noise at comparable Lden levels of earlier studies point to the necessity of adjusting noise limit recommendations. Funding: The review was funded by WHO Europe.
| S-EPMC5750957 | biostudies-literature
Project description:There is a lack of studies assessing the exposure-response relationship between transportation noise and annoyance in North America. Our aims were to investigate the prevalence of noise annoyance induced by road traffic, trains and airplanes in relation to distance to transportation noise sources, and to total environmental noise levels in Montreal, Canada; annoyance was assessed as noise-induced disturbance. A telephone-based survey among 4336 persons aged >18 years was conducted. Exposure to total environmental noise (A-weighted outdoor noise levels-LAeq24h and day-evening-night equivalent noise levels-Lden) for each study participant was determined using a statistical noise model (land use regression-LUR) that is based on actual outdoor noise measurements. The proportion of the population annoyed by road traffic, airplane and train noise was 20.1%, 13.0% and 6.1%, respectively. As the distance to major roads, railways and the Montreal International Airport increased, the percentage of people disturbed and highly disturbed due to the corresponding traffic noise significantly decreased. When applying the statistical noise model we found a relationship between noise levels and disturbance from road traffic and total environmental noise, with Prevalence Proportion Ratios (PPR) for highly disturbed people of 1.10 (95% CI: 1.07-1.13) and 1.04 (1.02-1.06) per 1 dB(A) Lden, respectively. Our study provides the first comprehensive information on the relationship between transportation noise levels and disturbance in a Canadian city. LUR models are still in development and further studies on transportation noise induced annoyance are consequently needed, especially for sources other than road traffic.
| S-EPMC4730481 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Due to the large number of negative tests, individually screening large populations for rare pathogens can be wasteful and expensive. Sample pooling methods improve the efficiency of large-scale pathogen screening campaigns by reducing the number of tests and reagents required to accurately categorize positive and negative individuals. Such methods rely on group testing theory which mainly focuses on minimizing the total number of tests; however, many other practical concerns and tradeoffs must be considered when choosing an appropriate method for a given set of circumstances. Here we use computational simulations to determine how several theoretical approaches compare in terms of (a) the number of tests, to minimize costs and save reagents, (b) the number of sequential steps, to reduce the time it takes to complete the assay, (c) the number of samples per pool, to avoid the limits of detection, (d) simplicity, to reduce the risk of human error, and (e) robustness, to poor estimates of the number of positive samples. We found that established methods often perform very well in one area but very poorly in others. Therefore, we introduce and validate a new method which performs fairly well across each of the above criteria making it a good general use approach.
| S-EPMC7657563 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The effects of noise on students' health, well-being, and learning are of growing concern among both the general public and policy-makers in Europe. Several studies have highlighted the consequences of noise on children's learning and performance at school. This study investigates the relationship between noise judgment in school goers aged 11-18 and noise measurements aimed at evaluating their exposure at school. For this purpose, a questionnaire was administered to 521 individuals in 28 classrooms in eight schools of four cities in Italy, with different environmental characteristics. Using a Likert-type scale, a selected set of responses related to noise generated an Annoyance Index (AI) score for each student and a classroom median score (MAI). From the noise data acquired, a global noise score (GNS) was assigned to each classroom. A higher AI was found in industrialized areas and among younger students. No significant differences in noise judgment were found by gender. A significant inverse correlation was described between MAI and GNS, thus the better the acoustic quality of the classrooms, the less the perceived noise and annoyance. The results show that noise perception and consequent disturbance are highly correlated with classroom acoustics, and confirm that annoyance represents the most widespread subjective response to noise.
| S-EPMC5858277 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Road traffic and related noise is a major source of annoyance and impairment to health in urban areas. Many areas exposed to road traffic noise are also exposed to rail and air traffic noise. The resulting annoyance may depend on individual/neighborhood socio-demographic factors. Nevertheless, few studies have taken into account the confounding or modifying factors in the relationship between transportation noise and annoyance due to road traffic. In this study, we address these issues by combining Geographic Information Systems and epidemiologic methods. Street network buffers with a radius of 500 m were defined around the place of residence of the 7290 participants of the RECORD Cohort in Ile-de-France. Estimated outdoor traffic noise levels (road, rail, and air separately) were assessed at each place of residence and in each of these buffers. Higher levels of exposure to noise were documented in low educated neighborhoods. Multilevel logistic regression models documented positive associations between road traffic noise and annoyance due to road traffic, after adjusting for individual/neighborhood socioeconomic conditions. There was no evidence that the association was of different magnitude when noise was measured at the place of residence or in the residential neighborhood. However, the strength of the association between neighborhood noise exposure and annoyance increased when considering a higher percentile in the distribution of noise in each neighborhood. Road traffic noise estimated at the place of residence and road traffic noise in the residential neighborhood (75th percentile) were independently associated with annoyance, when adjusted for each other. Interactions of effects indicated that the relationship between road traffic noise exposure in the residential neighborhood and annoyance was stronger in affluent and high educated neighborhoods. Overall, our findings suggest that it is useful to take into account (i) the exposure to transportation noise in the residential neighborhood rather than only at the residence, (ii) different percentiles of noise exposure in the residential neighborhood, and (iii) the socioeconomic characteristics of the residential neighborhood to explain variations in annoyance due to road traffic in the neighborhood.
| S-EPMC3850497 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The detrimental effects of traffic noise on cognition in children are well documented. Not much is known about the health effects in adults. We investigated the association of residential exposure to road traffic noise and annoyance due to road traffic noise with cognitive function in a cohort of 288 elderly women from the longitudinal Study on the influence of Air pollution on Lung function, Inflammation and Aging (SALIA) in Germany. Residential noise levels-weighted 24-h mean (LDEN) and nighttime noise (LNIGHT)-were modeled for the most exposed facade of dwellings and dichotomized at ≥50 dB(A). Traffic noise annoyance (day and night) was estimated by questionnaire. Cognitive function was assessed using the Consortium to Establish a Registry on Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD-Plus) Neuropsychological Assessment Battery. The modeled noise levels were associated with impaired total cognition and the constructional praxis domain, independently of air pollution. Self-reported noise annoyance was associated with better performance in semantic memory and constructional praxis domains. This finding should be interpreted with caution since we could not control for potential confounding by hearing loss. Noise levels and annoyance were associated, but their health effects seemed mutually independent.
| S-EPMC6572214 | biostudies-literature