Behaviorally confirmed awakenings were recorded during nighttime hours for periods of approximately one month in 45 homes of 82 test participants. Measurements of awakening and of both indoor and outdoor noise exposure were made for a total of 632 subject nights near a military airfield, 783 subject nights near a civil airport, and 472 subject nights in neighborhoods with community noise exposure of nonaircraft origin. Sound exposure levels of individual noise intrusions were much more closely associated with awakenings than long-term noise exposure levels. The slope of the relationship between awakening and sound exposure level was rather shallow, however. Although the present findings do not resemble those of laboratory studies of noise-induced sleep interference, they are in good agreement with the results of other field studies.

The findings of 21 studies of the effects of noise on sleep were reanalyzed in an effort to develop a quantitative dosage-response relationship. Large and systematic differences in sleep disturbance were observed between the findings of studies conducted in laboratory and in field settings. The influence of noise on sleep was also found to depend on additional factors such as the nature of noise and response metrics, noise source, background noise level, length of study, and sex of test participants. No reliable quantitative model for sleep disturbance could be developed from the studies reviewed.

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