title: Effect of external classroom noise on schoolchildren's reading and mathematics performance: correlation of noise levels and gender.
abstract: The present study investigated the effect of low, medium, and high traffic road noise as well as irrelevant background speech noise on primary school children's reading and mathematical performance. A total of 676 participants (324 boys, 47.9% and 352 girls, 52.1%) of the 4th and 5th elementary classes participated in the project. The participants were enrolled in public primary schools from urban areas and had ages ranging from 9 to 10 years and from. Schools were selected on the basis of increasing levels of exposure to road traffic noise and then classified into three categories (Low noise: 55-66 dB, Medium noise: 67-77 dB, and High noise: 72-80 dB). We measured reading comprehension and mathematical skills in accordance with the national guidelines for elementary education, using a test designed specifically for the purpose of this study. On the one hand, children in low-level noise schools showed statistically significant differences from children in medium- and high-level noise schools in reading performance (p<0.001). On the other hand, children in low-level noise schools differed significantly from children in high-level noise schools but only in mathematics performance (p=0.001). Girls in general did better in reading score than boys, especially in schools with medium- and high-level noise. Finally the levels of noise and gender were found to be two independent factors.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Papanikolaou
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Skenteris
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Piperakis
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011932:Reading; D012574:Schools; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014505:Urban Population