Neurobehavioral effects of transportation noise in primary schoolchildren: a cross-sectional study

Elise van Kempen, Irene van Kamp, Erik Lebret, Jan Lammers, Harry Emmen, Stephen Stansfeld, Elise van Kempen, Irene van Kamp, Erik Lebret, Jan Lammers, Harry Emmen, Stephen Stansfeld

Abstract

Background: Due to shortcomings in the design, no source-specific exposure-effect relations are as yet available describing the effects of noise on children's cognitive performance. This paper reports on a study investigating the effects of aircraft and road traffic noise exposure on the cognitive performance of primary schoolchildren in both the home and the school setting.

Methods: Participants were 553 children (age 9-11 years) attending 24 primary schools around Schiphol Amsterdam Airport. Cognitive performance was measured by the Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES), and a set of paper-and-pencil tests. Multilevel regression analyses were applied to estimate the association between noise exposure and cognitive performance, accounting for demographic and school related confounders.

Results: Effects of school noise exposure were observed in the more difficult parts of the Switching Attention Test (SAT): children attending schools with higher road or aircraft noise levels made significantly more errors. The correlational pattern and factor structure of the data indicate that the coherence between the neurobehavioral tests and paper-and-pencil tests is high.

Conclusions: Based on this study and previous scientific literature it can be concluded that performance on simple tasks is less susceptible to the effects of noise than performance on more complex tasks.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart indicating the completeness of response and loss of information for the participating children.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cognitive test batteries applied.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The relation between aircraft noise exposure (LAeq, 7-23 hrs) and the scores on the NES tests, adjusted for confounders. The dotted vertical line corresponds to no effect of aircraft noise exposure. The circles correspond to the estimated change in Z-score per 5 dB(A) increase of the aircraft noise level and the horizontal lines correspond to the 95% confidence interval.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The relation between road traffic noise exposure (LAeq, 7-23 hrs) and the scores on the NES tests adjusted for confounders. The dotted vertical line corresponds to no effect of road traffic noise exposure. The circles correspond to the estimated change in Z-score per 5 dB(A) increase of the road traffic noise level and the horizontal lines correspond to the 95% confidence interval.

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