Sensitivity to noise in a community sample: I. Measurement of psychiatric disorder and personality.

A sample of 77 women of high and low noise sensitivity, living in areas of high and low exposure to aircraft noise drawn from the 1977 West London Survey, were interviewed in the community in 1980. Women of high, intermediate and low noise sensitivity in 1980 were compared for measures of psychiatric disorder, personality and reactivity to the other sensory stimuli. In addition, the noise sensitivity measures defining the three groups in 1980 were compared with further measures of noise sensitivity. High noise sensitive women exhibited significantly more psychiatric symptoms, higher neuroticism scores, and greater reactivity to other sensory stimuli than intermediate and low noise sensitive women.