Association between Ambient Noise Exposure and School Performance of Children Living in An Urban Area: A Cross-Sectional Population-Based Study

• Published in: Journal of urban health 2014-04, Vol.91 (2), p.256-271
• Main Authors: Pujol, Sophie, Levain, Jean-Pierre, Houot, Hélène, Petit, Rémy, Berthillier, Marc, Defrance, Jérôme, Lardies, Joseph, Masselot, Cyril, Mauny, Frédéric
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Acoustics; Child; Children & youth; Cognitive science; Cross-Sectional Studies; Educational Measurement - statistics & numerical data; Engineering Sciences; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Environmental Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Environmental Monitoring - statistics & numerical data; Epidemiology; Exposure; Female; France; Health Informatics; Housing; Human exposure; Humans; Language; Life Sciences; Male; Mathematics; Mechanics; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Noise; Noise - adverse effects; Noise levels; Physics; Population studies; Psychology; Public Health; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Schools; Socioeconomic Factors; Stress, Psychological - etiology; Students - psychology; Students - statistics & numerical data; Surveys and Questionnaires; Transportation noise; Urban areas; Urban environments; Urban Population - statistics & numerical data
• ISSN: 1099-3460; 1468-2869; 1471-8505
• DOI: 10.1007/s11524-013-9843-6

Most of the studies investigating the effects of the external noise on children’s school performance have concerned pupils in schools exposed to high levels due to aircraft or freeway traffic noise. However, little is known about the consequences of the chronic ambient noise exposure at a level commonly encountered in residential urban areas. This study aimed to assess the relationship between the school performance of 8- to 9-year-old-children living in an urban environment and their chronic ambient noise exposure at home and at school. The children’s school performances on the national standardized assessment test in French and mathematics were compared with the environmental noise levels. Children’s exposure to ambient noise was calculated in front of their bedrooms (L den ) and schools (L Aeq,day ) using noise prediction modeling. Questionnaires were distributed to the families to collect potential confounding factors. Among the 746 respondent children, 586 were included in multilevel analyses. On average, the L Aeq,day at school was 51.5 dB (SD= 4.5 dB; range = 38–58 dB) and the outdoor L den at home was 56.4 dB (SD= 4.4 dB; range = 44–69 dB). L Aeq,day at school was associated with impaired mathematics score ( p  = 0.02) or impaired French score ( p  = 0.01). For a + 10 dB gap, the French and mathematics scores were on average lower by about 5.5 points. L den at home was significantly associated with impaired French performance when considered alone ( p