As people living near airports likely already know, all that air traffic can seriously affect sleep, confirms a new study.
Nighttime noise from aircraft increases the risk of a person tossing and turning in bed while engines roar overhead, researchers reported on September 25 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
The noise from planes also seems to disrupt people’s sleep/wake cycles, causing them to fall asleep and wake up at irregular times, the researchers found.
“Louder nighttime aircraft noise was linked to disturbed sleep quality, even if people were not aware of it,” said lead investigator Xiangpu Gong, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leicester in the UK. “Sleep disturbances can have long-term health effects, so it’s important that policies address and reduce aircraft noise pollution.”
For the study, researchers tracked over 80,000 people living near four major UK airports — London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, and Birmingham.
Study participants used wrist devices that tracked their sleep patterns and answered questionnaires about sleep quality.
Researchers compared these sleep data with maps created by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority that show the level of aircraft noise occurring in neighborhoods near airports.
People exposed to higher levels of aircraft noise tended to move more while sleeping, a sign of sleep disturbance, the researchers said.
Higher levels of aircraft noise were also associated with irregular sleep-wake rhythms, even though people spent approximately the same amount of time in bed.
“Nighttime aircraft noise was associated with more restless sleep and disrupted sleep-wake cycles, suggesting a link between exposure to nighttime aircraft noise and sleep disturbance,” Gong said in a university press release. “Worse sleep patterns have been associated with a higher risk of mental health issues, conditions like diabetes and obesity, and mortality risk.”
Policymakers should consider these findings when assessing whether to add more flights at an airport, said lead researcher Anna Hansell, a professor of environmental epidemiology at the University of Leicester.
“It is concerning that the current pressure on airports to increase nighttime flights may result in more nighttime aircraft noise, with potential impacts on sleep disturbance and, ultimately, health,” Hansell said.
More information
The Sleep Foundation has more on noise pollution.
Source: University of Leicester/www.usnews.com