Effects of road traffic noise on sleep:: Studies on children and adults

Socio-acoustic studies were conducted in residential areas in Sweden exposed to different levels of road traffic noise. The objectives were to evaluate exposure-effect relationships between road traffic noise and sleep quality and to compare sleep assessed by sleep logs and wrist-actigraphy for children and parents. The main study involved interviews with 160 children (9-12 years old) and 160 parents. Half of the families also participated in an in-depth study in which their sleep was registered with sleep logs and wrist-actigraphy. For parents the results demonstrate a significant exposure-effect relationship between noise levels from road traffic and the following sleep parameters: sleep quality, awakenings, the habit of keeping windows closed at night and perceived interference with road traffic noise. For children a significant exposure-effect relationship was found between road traffic noise and sleep quality as well as problems with daytime sleepiness. Results from the in-depth study showed that children had better perceived sleep quality and fewer awakenings than parents, although sleep assessed by wrist-actigraphy indicated a better sleep for parents. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.