ORIGINAL PAPER
Impact of road traffic noise on sleep disturbances and attention disorders
amongst school children living in Upper Silesian Industrial Zone, Poland
More details
Hide details
1
Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
(School of Public Health in Bytom, Department of Biostatistics)
2
Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
(Medical Faculty in Katowice, Department of Epidemiology)
Online publication date: 2017-03-23
Corresponding author
Michał Skrzypek
Medical University of Silesia, School of Public Health in Bytom, Department of Biostatistics, Piekarska 18, 41-902 Bytom, Poland
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2017;30(3):511-20
Referred to by: Kawada T. Letter to the Editor (May 17, 2017) concerning the paper “Impact of road traffic noise on sleep disturbances and attention disorders amongst school children living in Upper Silesian Industrial Zone, Poland”. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2018;31(1):125–6,
https://doi.org/10.13075/ijomeh.1896.01216.
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Published reports suggest that some adverse health impact may be related to noise exposure, and motor
vehicle traffic is considered to be the main source of environmental hazard of noise. The aim of this study has been
to assess an association between occurrence of sleep and attention disorders with exposure to the noise generated by
motor vehicle traffic in the case of a large group of children living in an urban environment. Material and Methods: The data was obtained using a cross sectional study design in Bytom (Silesia, Poland) from 2003–2007 for a selected
group of 7–14 year olds (N = 5136). The geographic information system was used for assessing the exposure to noise
generated by the motor vehicle traffic. The association between occurrences of sleep disturbances or attention disorders
and exposure to the traffic noise was examined by means of multivariable logistic regression. Results: Sleep disturbances
and attention disorders were found to be statistically significantly associated with exposure to the traffic noise. The multivariable
logistic regression results suggest that sleep disturbances and attention disorders were more likely to occur
in the case of children living in the area with higher traffic density, the odds ratio (OR) = 1.44 (95% confidence interval
(CI): 1.05–1.97) and 1.38 (95% CI: 1.03–1.86), respectively. Conclusions: The results of the study have confirmed that
the exposure to the traffic noise could be a significant risk factor for sleep disturbances and attention disorders among
children. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(3):511–520