title: Annoyance and self-reported sleep disturbance due to night-time railway noise examined in the field.
abstract: Railway noise interferes with daytime activities and disturbs sleep leading to annoyance of exposed residents. The main objective of this paper was to establish exposure-response relationships between nocturnal railway noise exposure and annoyance and to examine self-reported sleep disturbances as short-term reactions to noise. In a field study 33 residents living close to railway tracks in the Cologne/Bonn area (Germany) were investigated. Railway noise was measured indoors during nine consecutive nights at each site. Questionnaires referring to annoyance and non-acoustical factors were performed. Annoyance ratings increased significantly with the total number of trains and freight trains per night, and non-significantly with rising number of passenger trains and energy equivalent sound pressure level (L(Aeq)), when adjusting the model for non-acoustical variables. The total number of trains and the number of freight trains also significantly affected self-reported awakening frequency, but no other aspects of subjective sleep disturbances. The responses of this subject sample referring to railway noise in the previous night point to rather low impairments of exposed residents.
authors.affiliation: German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Aerospace Medicine, 51170 Cologne, Germany. sibylle.pennig@dlr.de
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pennig
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quehl
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Vinzent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rolny
authors.forename: Hartmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maass
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Basner
authors.forename: Eva-Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Elmenhorst
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007508:Irritable Mood; D007899:Leisure Activities; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009624:Noise, Transportation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011312:Pressure; D011890:Railroads; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D057566:Self Report; D012890:Sleep; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult