The development of the noise sensitivity questionnaire.

ABSTRACT

The existing questionnaires for determining the noise sensitivity of individuals provide information only about global noise sensitivity, although empirical data suggest that measuring noise sensitivity for different situations in daily life might be more logical. Therefore, the "Noise-Sensitivity-Questionnaire" (NoiSeQ) was developed to measure global noise sensitivity as well as the sensitivity of five domains of daily life, namely, leisure, work, habitation, communication, and sleep. The assessment of the measurement characteristics was based on the Generalizability (G) theory. The results of the G-study (N=66) proved that a single application of the questionnaire is sufficient for determining an individual's noise sensitivity. Furthermore, the ratings are age and gender independent. The subsequently conducted Decision (D)-study (N=288) provides information on the reliability of NoiSeQ. If the questionnaire is used for measuring global noise sensitivity, the reliability (relative and absolute G-coefficient) reaches a value above 0.90. According to ISO 10075-3, the questionnaire satisfies the precision level 1 "accurate measurement" in this case. The G-coefficients for all the subscales exceed the lower limit 0.70, with the exception of subscale leisure, which did not prove satisfactory. However, this subscale can reach a reliability of more than 0.70 if additional items are included. The validity of the instrument was proven for the subscales habitation (N=72) and work (N=72). In both the studies, the participants were asked to rate the annoyance in the presence of several rail and traffic noise scenarios. The subjects were characterized as low and high noise sensitive according to their sensitivity values obtained from NoiSeQ. In conclusion, a significant difference in annoyance rates was observed between the low and high noise sensitive groups for both the subscales habitation and work. This data support the validity of NoiSeQ.