Noise Annoyance and Sleep Disturbance in New Buildings in Bratislava

Abstract

Annoyance and sleep disturbance are the most common community responses to road traffic noise, and they account for the majority of the environmental noise burden in Europe. The findings of a cross-sectional study - a questionnaire survey of residents living in newly built apartment houses in some Slovak towns (Bratislava, Trencin, Martin, Piestany) are presented in this paper. The average age of the 543 respondents was 45 ± 4 years, 53 % were females, and 81 % had lived in their current home for more than five years. Traffic noise measurements on noisy facades LAeq,day = 51.8 dB to 72.4 dB, LAeq,night = 41.9 dB to 64 dB were supplemented by a standardized questionnaire. In comparison to respondents with bedroom windows facing quiet streets, those who face noisy streets are less satisfied with their quality of life, less sensitive to noise, and more irritable and restless during the day and night OR = 2.54; 95 % CI = 1.38-4.92. After the results have become completed, we hope to suggest temporary solutions for noisy apartment building facades, as well as intervention techniques, and to apply sound city planning principles.

Keywords

• noise annoyance
• sleep disturbance
• new apartment buildings
• questionnaire
• noisy facades