Road traffic noise-induced sleep disturbances: a comparison between laboratory and field settings

Due to the ongoing discussion about the relevance of sleep studies performed in the laboratory, the aim of this study was to assess the effects of road traffic noise exposure on sleep in laboratory and in field settings. Eighteen healthy young subjects participated in the study. They were exposed to noise from road traffic in the laboratory and exposed to the same recorded traffic noise exposure in their own homes. Their sleep was evaluated with wrist actigraphs and questionnaires on sleep. nificant increase in effects of noise on sleep in the laboratory was found. The results indicate that laboratory experiments do not exaggerate effects of noise on sleep.