Update of WHO's Community Noise Guidelines: Evidence Review on the Effects of Noise on Sleep

To evaluate the strength of the available evidence on the effects of environmental noise exposure on sleep for the update of WHO's Community Noise Guidelines a systematic review of the literature published from 2000 through 2015 was performed. A meta-analysis of surveys linking road, rail, and aircraft noise exposure to self-reports of difficulty falling asleep, awakening during the night, and sleep disturbance was conducted and exposure-response relationships were derived. A pooled analysis of polysomnographic studies on the acute effects of transportation noise on sleep was also conducted, and exposure-response functions between the maximum sound pressure level of individual noise events and the probability to wake up were derived. Due to a limited number of studies and the use of different outcome measures, a narrative review only was conducted on the effects of transportation noise on motility, cardiac and blood pressure outcome measures, and on children's sleep. The effect of wind turbine and hospital noise on sleep was also assessed. Based on the available evidence, transportation noise has an effect on objectively measured sleep physiology and on subjectively assessed sleep disturbance in adults, for other outcome measures and noise sources the evidence was conflicting or emerging.