Abstract
Noise is an ever increasing product of our environment. The increased noise levels cause auditory as well as non-auditory effects on health. The relationship between noise and hearing loss has been well established. However non-auditory effects of noise on health though known are understudied and underreported. Hence awareness about the prevalence of these deleterious effects, its prevention and appropriate remedial measures is the need of the hour.
Keywords: Social noise, Environmental noise, Quality of life, Non-auditory effects
Introduction
Noise is a component of our environment which is permissible in our dynamic space and unmitigated. The increased levels of noise in various specific places like industries and workshops have been linked to some degree of hearing impairment. This has been an area of constant discussion and research among various researchers in the past couple of decades. The understanding of noise induced hearing loss of high risk population associated with specific occupations has progressed to such an extent that authors are able to co relate the dose of noise, at a particular frequency, which is necessary to cause a specific degree of hearing loss [1]. In the last couple of years due to the increased urbanization and population congestion there is increased concern about social noise—caused by personal noise producing devices like mobile phones and music players and also about environmental noise [2]—caused by road traffic due to increased number of vehicles, rail and air transport, noise from cinema halls and also noise produced from nearby Industries which can permeate at any given level. In spite of clearly understanding the mechanism of noise induced hearing loss in different settings, there is comparatively low awareness on the non-auditory effects of noise. Non-auditory effects on health by noise are now an area of growing concern in this current era of explosive noise and development which is considered normal.
Non-auditory Effects of Noise
The continuous exposure to noise adds up to a negative health impact which may be in the form of annoyance [3], sleep disturbance [4], cardiovascular problems [5], anxiety and in some cases even depression [6]. The more deleterious effects of noise have been documented on children in terms of reduced cognitive performance [7] and also in pregnant women which indirectly reflects on the health of the newborn child [8, 9]. The people affected by such problems without any apparent cause fail to realize that it could be the direct consequence of noise above the specific threshold and thereby preventing them from getting adequate health care. An area of even more concern is that the ambient noise levels in and around hospitals [10] is also above the norms, which may have a negative impact among patients in addition to the hospital staff.
Quality of Life and Noise
WHO estimated that in high-income western European countries (population about 340 million people), at least 1 million healthy life-years (disability-adjusted life-years) are lost every year because of environmental noise [11]. The quality of life and work efficiency is drastically reduced thereby making the people involved unaware as to how to tackle the problem.
The main mechanism for these effects may be attributed to the subconscious physiological stress from interactions between the auditory system and central nervous system which affects the body’s homeostasis.
Recommendations for Practice
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i)
Personal Level
Encouragement of usage of audio protective devices on a daily basis is a must in spite of the public’s knowledge of existence of such equipment. It is also the duty of the health care personnel to provide insight about the deleterious non-auditory effects of noise to patients in addition to hearing loss.
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ii)
Institutional Level
The exposure limits to noise in various occupations must be handled by the various companies and institutions. Awareness of noise avoidance and mitigation must be done for the common people through educational campaigns and at the school level for children.
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iii)
Government Level
Last but not the least there should be a very conscious effort at the government level to regulate environmental noise exposure by maintaining strict norms of amount of noise produced in the respective zones of the city by any means.
Conclusion
Health effects of noise from environment are many, widespread, serious and hence prevalent. Therefore its effects on human body is not only restricted to hearing, but also has systemic and mental effects. Understanding this everyone must try to maintain an adequate noise free environment around themselves for a healthy life.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of interest
All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Footnotes
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
References
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