Nocturnal Road Traffic Noise Exposure and Children’s Sleep Duration and Sleep Problems

Abstract

Almost half of the European Union (EU)’s population is exposed to road traffic noise above levels that constitute a health risk. Associations between road traffic noise and impaired sleep in adults have consistently been reported. Less is known about effects of noise on children’s sleep. The aim of this study was to examine the association between nocturnal road traffic noise exposure and children’s parental-reported sleep duration and sleep problems. The present cross-sectional study used data from The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Parental report of children’s sleep duration and sleep problems at age 7 was linked to modelled levels of residential night-time road traffic noise. The study population included 2665 children from Oslo, Norway. No association was found between road traffic noise and sleep duration in the total study population (odds ratio (OR): 1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI): [0.94, 1.17]), but a statistically significant association was observed in girls (OR: 1.21, 95% CI: [1.04, 1.41]). For sleep problems, the associations were similar (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: [0.85, 2.16]) in girls. The ORs are presented for an increase of 10 dB. The findings suggest there is an association between road traffic noise and sleep for girls, underlining the importance of protecting children against excessive noise levels.

Road traffic noise and children’s inattention

“…Despite that, criteria for doing mediation analyses were not met, since road traffic noise was not associated with sleep duration. This was a little surprising, since an association between noise and sleep duration was found for 7 year-old girls in a recent study, using an overlapping population to that in the present study [ 13 ]. One reason for this discrepancy could be the use of different covariate information and only half as many participants (that study had n = 2665).…”

“…A crude model (containing road traffic noise, gender and age), a minimal adjustment set model (adding household income and urbanity), and a full model (further adding maternal education, ethnicity, maternal alcohol consumption and smoking during pregnancy, low birth weight and prematurity) were fitted. The modifying effects of gender, income and education were explored, since there is some indication that road traffic noise can affect boys and girls differently [ 13 ], and that parents tend to report more inattentive behaviors for boys than girls [ 56 ]. Furthermore, children of low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to be exposed to road traffic noise to a greater extent than children from high-SES families [ 2 ], and children from relatively high SES groups appear less sensitive to the effect of sleep curtailment on cognitive performance than children from low SES groups [ 57 ] The interaction terms were tested with a Wald test, using a significance level of .10 [ 58 , 59 ].…”

Environmental noise and sleep and mental health outcomes in a nationally representative sample of urban US adolescents

“…2 Nighttime noise may also affect sleep duration, efficiency, and insomnia. 2,3 These sleep disturbances may harm mental health, 4,5 but depression and anxiety may also arise independently from sustained central autonomic arousal due to chronic noise exposure. 6,7 Considering these negative health effects together, exposure to high environmental noise levels is estimated to result in the loss of at least 1 million disability-adjusted life years annually in Western Europe.…”

Sustainable Transportation and Health

“…Environmental influences play a key role in the impact of different transportation modes. Authors in this issue explore issues as varied as vibrations from rail [ 9 ], nocturnal road traffic noise [ 10 ], and ultrafine particle respiration [ 11 ]. Reduction of auto emissions is a key ST goal, affecting both local pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.…”

“…The research included in this issue is from around the globe, including colleagues from Europe [ 5 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 16 , 18 ], Asia [ 7 , 13 , 14 , 15 ], and the Americas [ 6 , 17 ]. Comparisons across different cultures and environments can provide important information that can inform research and policy choices.…”