Impact of Long-Term Exposure to Wind Turbine Noise on Redemption of Sleep Medication and Antidepressants: A Nationwide Cohort Study

Abstract

Background:Noise from wind turbines (WTs) is associated with annoyance and, potentially, sleep disturbances.Objectives:Our objective was to investigate whether long-term WT noise (WTN) exposure is associated with the redemption of prescriptions for sleep medication and antidepressants.Methods:For all Danish dwellings within a radius of 20-WT heights and for 25% of randomly selected dwellings within a radius of 20-to 40-WT heights, we estimated nighttime outdoor and low-frequency (LF) indoor WTN, using information on WT type and simulated hourly wind. During follow-up from 1996 to 2013, 68,696 adults redeemed sleep medication and 82,373 redeemed antidepressants, from eligible populations of 583,968 and 584,891, respectively. We used Poisson regression with adjustment for individual and area-level covariates.Results:Five-year mean outdoor nighttime WTN of ≥42 dB was associated with a hazard ratio (HR) = 1.14 [95% confidence interval (CI]: 0.98, 1.33) for sleep medication and HR = 1.17 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.35) for antidepressants (compared with exposure to WTN of <24 dB). We found no overall association with indoor nighttime LF WTN. In age-stratified analyses, the association with outdoor nighttime WTN was strongest among persons ≥65y of age, with HRs (95% CIs) for the highest exposure group (≥42 dB) of 1.68 (1.27, 2.21) for sleep medication and 1.23 (0.90, 1.69) for antidepressants. For indoor nighttime LF WTN, the HRs (95% CIs) among persons ≥65y of age exposed to ≥15 dB were 1.37 (0.81, 2.31) for sleep medication and 1.34 (0.80, 2.22) for antidepressants.Conclusions:We observed high levels of outdoor WTN to be associated with redemption of sleep medication and antidepressants among the elderly, suggesting that WTN may potentially be associated with sleep and mental health. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3909

A Review of the Potential Impacts of Wind Turbine Noise in the Australian Context

“…This study did not support an association between wind turbine noise and redemption of antihypertension medication [107]. Poulsen et al [108] did find an association between outdoor wind turbine noise level and first redemption of sleep medication or antidepressants by people aged 65 years or older.…”

Recent Advances in Wind Turbine Noise Research

“…A recent study [159] investigated the use of sleep and antidepressant medication by people living in the vicinity of wind farms. The authors found that the prevalence of prescription sleep medication purchase increased as the level of nighttime wind farm noise exposure increased.…”

Toward a Survey-Based Assessment of Wind Turbine Noise: The Impacts on Wellbeing of Local Residents

“…Therefore, noise annoyance and sleep disturbance result from wind turbine operations are widely discussed as a potential health issue [4]. Studies conducted by Poulsen et al found that people over 65 years old are more likely to fill prescriptions for sleep medication when exposed to high levels of wind turbine noise [5]. This is further supported by another study from Abbasi et al claiming that noise exposure had a significant effect on general health, sleep disturbance, and annoyance of people living near wind farms [6].…”

“…Additionally, Van Renterghem stated that wind turbine noises would become more annoying when mixed with local road traffic noise [9]. However, on the other side, a study funded by the Denmark government claimed that there is a lack of direct connection between cardiovascular disease (associated with short-term exposure) and wind turbine noise [5]. Despite that wind turbine noise might increase the risk of noise nuisances, the identification and validation of interactions between turbine noise exposure and symptoms (e.g., tinnitus, hearing loss, dizziness, and headache) still suffer from scientific evidence [10].…”