IMPACT OF ROAD TRAFFIC NOISE ON THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

Background: Approximately 16% of hearing loss worldwide is associated with occupational exposure and is considered if an individual is exposed for around 8 hours every day. Aims: The present trial was carried out to evaluate the association of noise exposure to various health hazards in children and adolescents with the investigation of ill-effects of noise in subjects exposed to noise in fetal life. Materials and Methods: The study included a total of 542 Subjects. The low exposure value was considered as <70 dB and >85 dB was categorized as high exposure. All values for the study parameter were obtained based on the traffic noise in a particular geographical area. Depending on the noise exposure various health outcomes were assessed including stress, blood pressure, weight, birth outcomes, and asthma and wheezing. The collected data was utilized for results formulation. Results: For ˃55dB group, annoyed and not annoyed subjects were 40.42% (n=38) and 59.57% (56), and cortisol values were 50.4nmol/l and 36.2nmol/l respectively. Prehypertension was seen in males (23.06%, n=125) more than females (9.04%, n=49). The mean of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in study subjects was 121.68mmHg and 68mmHg respectively. Asthma was seen in 7.25% (n=38) of the study subjects and wheezing was found in 9.59% (n=52) of study subjects. Conclusion: The present study concludes that no comprehensible correlation was seen between cortisol levels, prehypertension, hypertension, asthma, wheeze, and traffic noise in children and adolescents.