Behavioral and Emotional Disorders and Transportation Noise among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
by
Melanie Schubert 1,†
,
Janice Hegewald 1,*,†,
Alice Freiberg 1,
Karla Romero Starke 1,
Franziska Augustin 1,
Steffi G. Riedel-Heller 2,
Hajo Zeeb 3,4 and
Andreas Seidler 1
Melanie Schubert 1,†,
Janice Hegewald 1,*,†,
Alice Freiberg 1,
Karla Romero Starke 1,
Franziska Augustin 1,
Steffi G. Riedel-Heller 2,
Hajo Zeeb 3,4 and
Andreas Seidler 1
1
Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
2
Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
3
Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Leibniz-Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology – BIPS GmbH, 28359 Bremen, Germany
4
Health Sciences Bremen, University of Bremen, 28344 Bremen, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(18), 3336; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183336
Received: 8 August 2019 / Revised: 4 September 2019 / Accepted: 6 September 2019 / Published: 10 September 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Effects of Future Traffic Noise)
Children and adolescents may be particularly vulnerable to environmental influences such as noise which can affect mental well-being. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the effect of transportation noise on behavioral and emotional disorders in children and adolescents using a meta-analytic approach. Therefore, we searched four databases (Pubmed, Embase, PsychINFO, and PSYNDEX) and grey literature until February of 2019. We identified 14 articles from 10 studies examining the effect of transportation noise exposure on the mental health of children. These studies predominately used the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and mainly focused on schoolchildren and adolescents aged 9–10 years and 15–17 years in Europe. Three studies could be included in the meta-analysis. In sum, the odds for hyperactivity/inattention and total difficulties was significantly increased by 11% (Odds Ratio, OR = 1.11 (95% Confidence Interval, CI 1.04–1.19), respectively 9% (95% CI 1.02–1.16) per 10 dB road traffic noise. Thus, we obtained evidence for an effect of road traffic noise on hyperactivity/inattention and total difficulties, although we could consider few studies. Future studies are needed that use similar techniques to assess outcomes and exposures at schools and in homes. This would make it possible to conduct an individual participant data pooled analysis of the data.
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Keywords:
noise; transportation; traffic noise; noise pollution; road traffic noise; aircraft noise; railway noise; anxiety; depression; disruptive behavior disorders; psychology; cognition disorders
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MDPI and ACS Style
Schubert, M.; Hegewald, J.; Freiberg, A.; Starke, K.R.; Augustin, F.; Riedel-Heller, S.G.; Zeeb, H.; Seidler, A. Behavioral and Emotional Disorders and Transportation Noise among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 3336.
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