Relationship between subjective health and disturbances of daily life due to aircraft noise exposure - Questionnaire study conducted around Narita International Airport

摘要

Many studies have reported that environmental noise has adverse effects such as annoyance, dissatisfaction, and disturbances of daily life (e.g. sleep disturbance and hearing interference). It also causes adverse health effects (e.g. physiological health problems such as cardiovascular disease and hypertension) (WHO 1999). Annoyance is one of the most widely investigated effects since it is considered to be a comprehensive indicator of the adverse effects of environmental noise. However, the causation between annoyance and adverse health effects has not been fully confirmed. We carried out a questionnaire-based study in a residential area around Narita International Airport in 2005 and 2006. The questionnaire included the 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) (Goldberg 1978; Goldberg & Hillier 1979), Weinstein's noise sensitivity scale (WNS) (Weinstein 1978, 1980), questions on disturbances of daily life due to aircraft noise exposure, and questions on annoyance at aircraft noise exposure. The present paper investigates the effects of aircraft noise exposure on subjective health identified by the GHQ-28 taking noise sensitivity into account. Furthermore, the relationships among subjective health, disturbances of daily life, and annoyance were analyzed in order to find the primary cause of the adverse effects on subjective health.