Modelled and Perceived Noise Exposure and Psychotropic Medication Use

摘要

Background Road-traffic noise can induce stress which may eventually lead to mental health disorders. Mental health problems of noise have not are scant in research. People perceive noise differently, this may affect the extent to which noise contributes to poor mental health at individual level. This paper aimed to assess relationships between perceived or modelled noise and use of psychotropic medication. Methods We conducted a survey to evaluate perceived exposures of residents of the Helsinki Capital Region of Finland to road-traffic noise and the associations of these exposures with sleep disorder, anxiety and depression. Respondents were randomly sampled from the Finnish Population registry and data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Associations between subjective (annoyance) or modelled facade-noise levels and mental health outcome indicators were assessed using generalised additive models while controlling for socioeconomic, lifestyle and exposure-related factors. Results A total of 7321 respondents returned completed questionnaires. The proportion of respondents with self-rated moderate to severe road-traffic noise exposure showed a linear trend with higher categories of modelled noise. About 15%, 7% and 7% of respondents used sedative, anxiolytic and antidepressant medicaments, respectively, in the year prior to the study. Perceived noise exposure was clearly associated with anxiolytic drug use only, OR=1.41 (95% CI: 1.02 - 1.95). There was suggestive association between modelled noise and anxiolytic or antidepressant use. In respondents without a quiet facade, modelled noise was more definitively associated with antidepressant use. Noise sensitivity did not modify the effect of noise but was independently associated with increased use of all medication. Conclusion We observed few associations between noise and psychotropic medication use. Noise sensitivity was found to predict psychotropic medication use independently of noise.