THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ROAD TRAFFIC NOISE EXPOSURE an‎d ANNOYANCE

Introduction: Exposure to road - traffic noise commonly engenders annoyance, the extent of which is determined by factors not fully understood. Our aim was to estimate the prevalence and determinants of road - traffic noise annoyance in taxi drivers in Qazvin. Material and methods: This study was performed on 98 drivers of a selected route in Qazvin (all married). Equivalent noise levels [Leq (dB A)] were measured during day and evening in all streets of the route. According to ISO 9612: 2009, 8 h equivalent noise level [Leq8h (dB A)] were measured. Noise annoyance was estimated using self - reported annoyance scale. Results: Noise annoyance showed strong correlation with noise levels and personal characteristics. The strongest correlation was found between the percentage of highly annoyed drivers and evening noise level (OR = 2.4). Logistic regression model identified increased risk for a high level of noise annoyance with regard to: age (OR = 0.95), smoking habit (OR = 1.9), educational status (OR = 0.026) and driving experience (OR = 2.1). Conclusions: A considerable proportion of taxi drivers are highly annoyed by road - traffic noise, and perceive it to be a significant health risk. Knowledge of health risks of road - traffic noise, are associated with noise annoyance. There is necessity to establish an acceptable level of exposure noise for taxi drivers.