December 30, 2023
Health, Noise

Association between exposure to wind turbines and sleep disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Godono, Alessandro; et al.

[Abstract] To date, there is scarce evidence on the association between sleep disorders and noise generated by wind turbines. We searched six relevant electronic databases from the inception to May 2023 for relevant articles. The methodological quality of the included articles was evaluated using the US National Institutes of Health tool. Fifteen articles met the inclusion criteria. The overall prevalence of sleep disorders among residents close to wind turbines was 34% (95% Confidence Interval, 0.22-0.47). Univariate meta-regressions for distance and sound power level showed that at higher distance the prevalence of sleep disorders decreases (p = 0.010) and with a higher sound power level the prevalence increases (p = 0.037). Furthermore, this systematic review and meta-analysis highlighted that the overall quality of current research on this topic is poor, and the methods to measure the results are often based on subjective assessments and not validated questionnaires. In conclusion, our preliminary findings suggest that there may be a possible relation between exposure to wind turbines and sleep disorders, although no conclusions can be drawn in terms of causality due to the nature of the retrieved data and the poor quality of current evidence. Future studies should adopt a longitudinal design and focus on objective measurements, supported by validated subjective methods such as questionnaires.

Alessandro Godono, Catalina Ciocan, Marco Clari, Ihab Mansour, Giuliano Curoso, Andrea Franceschi, Elisa Carena, Vittoria De Pasquale, Valerio Dimonte, Enrico Pira, Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, Italy
Bruno Dallapiccola, Direzione Scientifica IRCCS Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
Nicola Normanno, Cell Biology and Biotherapy Unit, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS ‘Fondazione G. Pascale’, Naples, Italy
Paolo Boffetta, Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA, and Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy

International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health
Volume 254, September 2023, 114273
DOI:10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114273 [1]

Download original document: “Association between exposure to wind turbines and sleep disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis [2]


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/association-between-exposure-to-wind-turbines-and-sleep-disorders-a-systematic-review-and-meta-analysis/


URLs in this post:

[1] DOI:10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114273: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114273

[2] Association between exposure to wind turbines and sleep disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis: https://docs.wind-watch.org/Godono-2023-Sleep.pdf