Parameters of well-being and subjective health and their relationship with residential traffic noise exposure — A representative evaluation in Switzerland

In the present paper, the associations between residential traffic noise exposure from the noise sources – road, rail and aircraft – and self-reported indicators of health and well-being are investigated in a representative sample of the Swiss population. The study is based on record linkage of the Swiss GIS Noise Database (SonBase) and the Swiss Household Panel (SHP), a large panel survey with more than 10,000 respondents all over the country. A range of exposure–effect relationships of noise exposure and parameters of health and well-being such as self-reported health status, satisfaction with health, sleep disturbances, the intensity of the wish to move from the current residence as well as the awareness of "noise problems" at the place of living were investigated. Both unadjusted as well as models that controlled for age, sex, socioeconomic status, degree of urbanization at the place of residence, and personal living conditions were developed. A contribution of residential noise exposure as regards subjective estimates of health cannot been ruled out, but must be put into perspective as the effects of exposure measures were of rather small magnitude, especially compared to well-established determinants of health. Against the background of the explanatory power of classic health predictors, the present analyses allow one to gage the contribution of residential noise exposure on subjective health outcomes from a more general, integral point of view.

Research highlights
► Associations between residential noise exposure and self-reported health are modeled.
► Pre-existing data sources of both noise exposure and subjective health were matched.
► Only small effects of noise exposure on subjective estimates of health were found.
► Important predictors for subjective health were age, sex, and financial satisfaction.
► No evidence was found, that noise exposure at home triggers more frequent relocations.