Topic 1: Stressors in the Environment: Black & Black (2007) Flashcards
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Aim: State the 2 core questions that Black & Black wanted to investigate.
1) Is health-related quality of life worse in a community chronically exposed to aircraft noise than in a community not exposed?
2) Is long-term aircraft noise exposure associated with elevated blood pressure in adults via noise stress as a mediating factor?
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Sample: How many addresses and where (roughly) were the questionnaires sent out to?
1500 addresses in 2 areas of Sydney, Australia.
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Sample: How many responses were there? And how many questionnaires were returned fully completed?
796 responses.
704/796 responses were fully completed.
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Sample: State the 4 sections in the questionnaire.
1) Health
2) Hypertension
3) Annoyance from noise
4) Other factors, such as employment status and smoking/alcohol consumption
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Sample: Describe area 1.
Close to the airport, that on an average day experienced 50 aircraft noise events with a volume louder than 70 decibels.
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Sample: Describe area 2.
South Penrith, 55km from the airport. No aircraft sound but matched on socio-economic indices.
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Sample: What was the age range of the participants?
15-87 years of age.
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Method: Describe the ‘health’ section in the questionnaire.
Measured in relation to physical functioning, general health, vitality, and mental health (questions based on SF-36 instrument).
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Method: Describe the ‘hypertension’ section in the questionnaire.
Accessed through closed-end questions about medical histories regarding cholesterol and high blood pressure.
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Method: Describe the ‘annoyance from noise’ section in the questionnaire.
Measured in 2 stages:
1) Identify noise sources while at home.
2) Rate them from 0-10 regarding how annoying they are (0 being not at all annoying and 10 being extremely annoying).
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Method: Describe the ‘other factors’ section in the questionnaire.
May have a confounding effect on the researcher’s ability to assess the relationship between aircraft noise and health.
Such as employment status, exercise activities, smoking status, alcohol consumption, nutrition intake and demographic characteristics.
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Results: What was the mean noise annoyance score for area 1?
6.27
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Results: What was the mean noise annoyance score for area 2?
1.03
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Results: Explain the results in relation to core question 1.
The mean health score was lower for those in the aircraft noise exposure group than the control group.
(Topic 1: Black & Black) Results: Explain the results in relation to core question 2.
Long-term aircraft noise exposure was significantly associated with chronic stress and high blood pressure.
