Exposure response-relationships between nocturnal aircraft noise and sleep disturbances in primary school children

Abstract

Although undisturbed sleep is widely regarded as essential for physical and psychological development in children and aircraft noise is an evidenced source for sleep disturbances, little knowledge exists about its impact on childhood sleep. We investigated sleep in a field study of 51 children aged 8 to 10 years who resided near a 24-h operating airport. Sleep was measured polysomnographically during four nights with the first night used as adaptation night. Aircraft noise exposure was recorded simultaneously at the children’s ear so that exposure-response models for awakening reactions could be computed from event-related analyses. Relevant predictors of an awakening were both of acoustical (e.g., maximum level of aircraft noise event, level of the background noise, maximum rise rate of level increase), and situational/non-acoustical nature (e.g., elapsed sleep time, sleep stage preceding the aircraft noise event, presence of worrying events in the near past or future). A comparison of the resulting exposure response curve to an established curve for adults from the same airport region revealed a higher wakeup threshold to aircraft noise events in children.