Sarah McGuire, PhD | Division of Sleep and Chronobiology, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine | United States
Gunn Marit Aasvang, PhD | Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Department of Air Pollution and Noise | Norway
Undisturbed sleep is important for next day performance, well-being, and health. It is known from laboratory and field studies that environmental noise can affect both sleep physiology and subjectively assessed sleep quality. To provide an overview of recent findings on the effects of noise on sleep, a literature review was conducted. Articles published since June 2014 was identified through a search of available databases. Studies on transportation, wind turbine, and hospital noise were included in this review. Based on the identified studies, there has been an ongoing interest in examining the acute effects of noise on sleep. Among the new actigraphy and polysomnographic field studies are the first studies on wind turbine noise which have used objective measures of sleep, as well as a study examining the potential benefit of nighttime air-traffic curfews. Also there have been new epidemiological studies which have added to the knowledge on the effects of noise on self-reported sleep disturbance. This review will include important findings over the last three years and recommendations for future research.