Analysis of the Non-Acoustic Effects of Traffic Noise on Drivers' Physical and Psychological Health

Over the past few decades, rapid urbanization has led to noise pollution emerging as a major pollutant, with urban traffic noise being a major component of it. Understanding the effects of activities that do not have a direct impact on our health is complex. The present study is an attempt to gain insights into the nonaudiometric effects of noise on humans.

Two groups of driver types were formed to assess the nonaudiometric effects on humans: (1) driver of three-wheeler tempos (exposed group); (2) drivers of noncommercial light motor vehicles (LMVs) (unexposed group). In the present research, 300 drivers (150 tempo drivers and 150 LMV drivers) were examined using various questionnaire tools, such as the Perceived Stress Scale-4, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Medical examinations were also performed to evaluate the physiological effects.

In the exposed group, 39.3% had moderate anxiety, and 12.0% had minimal anxiety. In the unexposed group, the majority (58.0%) had minimal anxiety, and 12.0% had moderate anxiety. A total of 42.0% of the tempo drivers had moderate depression, and 12.0% had severe depression. Among the LMV drivers, the majority (51.3%) had no depression, and none had severe depression. Furthermore, statical significance was only noticed for systolic blood pressure (P = 0.026), whereas no significant difference was observed for diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.27).

The exposed group suffered more compared with the unexposed group, except for when considering annoyance.