Abstract
Noise in non-industrial workplaces is an increasing problem. Annoyance and complaints over noise are frequently reported in these workplaces, whereas the risk of hearing damage is usually not the major concern. An important question arises for this type of noise of low to moderate intensity; that is, if it could be a cause of increased sickness absence, for example, via a mechanism starting with job dissatisfaction or via health problems caused by the noise exposure. This paper discusses this question starting from epidemiological studies on sickness absence, and supplemented with field and laboratory studies that address intermediate steps on the path to sickness absence, such as job dissatisfaction, symptoms, and physiological stress reactions.
Only 3 epidemiological studies have investigated the effect of occupational noise on sickness absence. In the one study most pertinent to the question raised above, noise was associated with increased sickness absence in women holding jobs with complex work tasks.
No firm conclusions can be made based on the studies that have illuminated possible intermediate steps to sickness absence. One reason is the wide variety of scopes and contexts addressed in these studies; the workplace exposures that have been investigated spans noise in schools, open-plan offices, hospitals and noise from ventilation systems, etc. Another reason is the presence of major weaknesses in many of the studies, such as confounding effects and problematic exposure assessments. It is concluded that based on the level of the current evidence an association between occupational noise exposure of low to moderate level and sickness absence is possible, but to settle the question more high quality studies are needed.