Auditory and Non-auditory Effects of Noise on Health

Overview

Journal Lancet

Publisher Elsevier

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2013 Nov 5

PMID 24183105

Citations 494

Authors

Mathias Basner

Wolfgang Babisch

Adrian Davis

Mark Brink

Charlotte Clark

Sabine Janssen

Stephen Stansfeld

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Noise is pervasive in everyday life and can cause both auditory and non-auditory health effects. Noise-induced hearing loss remains highly prevalent in occupational settings, and is increasingly caused by social noise exposure (eg, through personal music players). Our understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in noise-induced hair-cell and nerve damage has substantially increased, and preventive and therapeutic drugs will probably become available within 10 years. Evidence of the non-auditory effects of environmental noise exposure on public health is growing. Observational and experimental studies have shown that noise exposure leads to annoyance, disturbs sleep and causes daytime sleepiness, affects patient outcomes and staff performance in hospitals, increases the occurrence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and impairs cognitive performance in schoolchildren. In this Review, we stress the importance of adequate noise prevention and mitigation strategies for public health.

Citing Articles

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Tinnitus and cardiovascular disease: the population-based Tromsø Study (2015-2016).

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Disability weights for environmental noise-related health states: results of a disability weights measurement study in Europe.

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Pan-caspase inhibitor protects against noise-induced hearing loss in a rodent model.

Yepes M, Minesinger K, Raciti F, Salazar M, Rajguru S Front Neurosci. 2025; 19:1497773.

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