Aircraft noise exposure and resident's stress and hypertension: A public health perspective for airport environmental management

Noise management regulations and policies at commercial airports are reviewed. A cross-sectional study of environmental noise and community health based, on the SF-36, was conducted in residential neighborhoods near Sydney Airport with high exposure to aircraft noise and in a matched control suburb unaffected by aircraft noise. Noise measurements were analysed and a novel noise metric formulated based on background environmental noise levels. After controlling for confounders, subjects who have been chronically exposed to high aircraft noise level are more likely to report stress and hypertension compared with those not exposed to aircraft noise. Policy implications and further research are described.