Annoyance and perception of noise in rural and urban French areas (20m Lecture)

Traffic, urban, and occupational noises are now described as major environmental problems, which can greatly interfere with health. The degree of affect - especially noise perception and annoyance - can vary between subjects, according to their occupational status, their place of life and their pre-existing diseases. These points have been investigated by a cross-sectional study performed in an urban area (UA) and in a rural area (RA) of Auvergne (France). The aim of this study was to identify the main factors affecting noise perception and annoyance.

Data have been collected with a standardized questionnaire, applied to 484 subjects (242 living in UA and 242 in RA). Subjects were asked about their socio-demographic characteristics, exposures to occupational noise and to domestic noise, present diseases and feeling of health status. Statistical analysis were performed with Fischer test, Chi2 test or Fisher's Exact Test. Logistic regression models and multiple linear regression were used to identify factors of noise annoyance (with Stata v12).  484 subjects (308 women and 176 men) were included. Comparable mean ages are observed in both population (46.2 +/- 18.9 yrs in UA - 47.7 +/- 17.4 yrs in RA), with a significant female predominance noted in UA (67%) comparatively to RA (58%). Both populations recognized noise pollution as a major environmental problem. A majority of subjects has been occupationally exposed (66% in UA - 61% in RA), but few of them have used regularly individual hearing protection (14% in UA - 23% in RA). Most people live with their family (82% in RA - 70% in UA), mainly in house in RA (76%) or in apartment in UA (74%). In the vicinity of home, noise annoyance is mentioned and it is especially associated with road traffic, building tools, airports, neighbours, restaurants/pubs, rail traffic and industrial activities. In this study, the perception and the noise annoyance is specially explained by gender (females are more annoyed by noise than males) and age (the level of noise annoyance is inversely linked to the age); place of life (UA or RA) and pre-existing diseases were less contributive.