Sleep

Nocturnal road traffic noise and Sleep during Mid-Adulthood in Urban Settings: Examining Sex and Socioeconomic Differences within the DAS-EP Project.

Ane Arregi, Ainhoa Bereziartua, et al. • Environmental Research • 2026

PubMed 42914074 DOI 10.1016/j.envres.2026.125987
TL;DR

Associations between nocturnal road traffic noise and sleep health in mid-adulthood varied across regions and sleep dimensions: higher noise was linked to poorer sleep quality in the Basque Country (with a similar pooled pattern) and to greater sleep satisfaction in Barcelona (not significant in pooled meta-analysis), highlighting context-dependent noise-sleep relationships.

Key Findings

Results

Higher nocturnal road traffic noise was associated with poorer sleep quality (SATED) in the Basque Country, and the pooled meta-analysis showed a similar overall pattern.

  • Noise was measured as Lnight (23:00-07:00 long-term average) from official noise maps.
  • Sleep quality was assessed with the SATED scale (Satisfaction, Alertness, Timing, Efficiency, Duration).
  • Analyses used linear models accounting for the complex survey design, with covariates chosen via a Directed Acyclic Graph.
Results

In Barcelona, higher noise exposure was associated with greater sleep satisfaction, but this association was not significant in pooled meta-analyses.

  • The finding was region-specific and counterintuitive in direction.
  • The pooled meta-analysis across regions did not confirm a significant association for sleep satisfaction.
Results

The association between noise exposure and sleep health varied across regions and across sleep health dimensions.

  • Sleep dimensions examined were sleep duration, overall sleep satisfaction, and SATED-based sleep quality.
  • The authors interpret this as evidence of context-dependent noise-sleep relationships.
Results

Women reported poorer sleep health than men, with lower sleep satisfaction and poorer sleep quality.

  • The sample comprised 1,898 adults aged 40-60 from urban areas of the Basque Autonomous Community, the Valencian Community, and Barcelona.
  • Data came from population health surveys conducted 2021-2023.
Results

Sleep quality increased with area-level household income.

  • Socioeconomic status was assessed at area level (household income).
  • This was reported alongside sex differences in sleep health.
Results

Noise exposure increased with income at lower income levels, while patterns differed across regions beyond €50,000.

  • The relationship between income and noise was not uniform across the three study regions.
  • This indicates that the socioeconomic distribution of noise exposure is region-dependent.

What This Means

This study looked at whether nighttime road traffic noise is linked to sleep in about 1,900 adults aged 40 to 60 living in cities in the Basque Country, the Valencian Community, and Barcelona. Noise levels at people's homes were estimated from official noise maps, and sleep was assessed through self-reported sleep duration, satisfaction, and a multidimensional sleep health scale. The results were not uniform. In the Basque Country, more nighttime noise was associated with poorer sleep quality, and combining the regions showed a similar overall pattern. In Barcelona, higher noise was unexpectedly linked with greater sleep satisfaction, though this was not significant when results were combined across regions. Women reported poorer sleep than men, and sleep quality was better in higher-income areas, while noise exposure patterns by income differed between regions. This research suggests that the relationship between traffic noise and sleep depends on local context and which aspect of sleep is considered. Because the study is cross-sectional and based on self-reported sleep and modeled noise, it cannot show cause and effect, but the authors say the findings support targeted public health strategies.

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Citation

Ane Arregi, Ainhoa Bereziartua, Ferran Ballester, Marisa Estarlich, Laia Font-Ribera, G. García-Baquero, et al.. (2026). Nocturnal road traffic noise and Sleep during Mid-Adulthood in Urban Settings: Examining Sex and Socioeconomic Differences within the DAS-EP Project.. Environmental Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2026.125987