Even a small amount of airplane noise can have a major impact on sleep: study

A study published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives found women who were exposed to even quiet airplane noises were more likely to get less than seven hours of sleep a night.

Anyone who has been on a long flight can confirm airplanes don’t make it easy to get some shut-eye — but according to a new study, you don’t have to be on a plane for them to be the cause of a poor night’s sleep.

The study published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives found women who were exposed to even quiet airplane noises were more likely to get less than seven hours of sleep a night.

Researchers say it sheds more light on how this ambient noise level affects those who live near airports or in places where airplanes are frequently passing by.

“This study helps us understand the potential health pathways by which aircraft noise may act, such as through disrupted sleep,” Junenette Peters, associate professor of environmental health at Boston University School of Public Health and study senior author, said in a press release.

According to researchers, this is the first large-scale investigation into airplane noise and its health impacts.

The study looked at the self-reported sleep levels of more than 35,000 people living near 90 major U.S. airports.

To get a broad base of data, they drew from an ongoing study of U.S. nurses called the Nurses’ Health Study, which has been tracking various aspects of its cohorts’ health through questionnaires since 1976. The cohort only includes female nurses.