Cross-country comparison of aircraft noise-induced sleep disturbance

Abstract

To inform policy, exposure-response relationships for aircraft noise-induced sleep disturbance are needed. Due to different nighttime airport operational patterns it has been unknown whether results from individual studies can be applied to other airports. In addition, there may be inter-cultural differences that affect an individual's sensitivity to awakening. To examine whether there are crosscountry differences in aircraft noise-induced awakenings, results from 3 studies that obtained objective sleep and noise measurements were compared. Two of the studies were conducted in Germany and include the STRAIN study conducted near Cologne/Bonn airport (N=64) and data from three years of the NORAH study conducted near Frankfurt airport (year 1 N=49; year 2 N=83; year 3 N=187). The third study was conducted in the United States near Philadelphia International airport (N=37). Awakenings were identified based on ECG and actigraphy measurements using an automatic algorithm, enabling consistency in scoring across the three studies. Models relating awakenings to the indoor maximum noise level of single aircraft events were derived. Similarities and differences in the regressions of the 3 studies are discussed