title: Investigation of road-traffic noise and annoyance in Beijing: a cross-sectional study of 4th Ring Road.
abstract: The authors aimed to evaluate traffic noise level and noise annoyance in Beijing and the impact of the noise on the quality of life of the residences. The authors performed a cross-sectional study in a 12-floor college dormitory near 4th Ring Road in Beijing, China. The north-side rooms of the building were noisy and had windows facing the road. The authors measured both indoor and outdoor noise. Using both a 5-item verbal scale and a 0-10 numerical scale, they questioned a sample of 1,293 college students living in the dormitory about road-traffic noise annoyance. The results showed that the average outdoor day-to-night noise level was 79.2 dB(A) in the noisy rooms and 64.0 dB(A) in the quiet rooms. Nearly 39% of the respondents living in the noisy rooms indicated that they were highly annoyed by traffic noise according to the response on the verbal scale, and 50% of the respondents living in the noisy rooms were highly annoyed according to the numerical scale.
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Clinical Epidemiology and the Research Center of Occupational Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hui-Juan
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wen-Bo
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Jing-Qiao
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yi-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006798:Housing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009624:Noise, Transportation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*