Noise annoyance resulting from road traffic in certain situations can be assessed in two ways. Firstly, the percentage of people affected can be obtained through questionnaires from surveys. Secondly, it can be calculated according to traffic noise levels and the standard exposure-response relation (dated 2001). The Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has drawn up a guideline that addresses various issues related to the assessment of noise annoyance, the interpretation of results and the influence of age and other personal and contextual factors. Questions from local health authorities on differences between measured and calculated percentages of noise annoyance have led to the realisation of this guideline. After having explored local data and reports, it was concluded that results from different studies are often not comparable because different research questions and methods of analysis are used. Furthermore, the comparison of measured and calculated mean percentages is not useful when the statistical variation in the results is not taken into account. In addition, the application of an age-specific exposure-response relation (dated 2009) resulted generally to more concord between the calculated and measured percentages. In current situations, surveys are considered the best way to assess the actual noise annoyance. When the same surveys are repeated at different points in time, noise annoyance can be well measured. For estimating percentages of noise annoyance for future situations, exposure-response relations are the appropriate tools. Due to the variation in study results, the calculated percentages may deviate from those that actually occur in the future situation. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting