Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The aim of this survey was to provide a scientific basis for deciding future policy on aircraft movements at night at Heathrow and Gatwick. The survey sought: a) to establish the nature and scale of sleep disturbance from all causes around Heathrow and Gatwick airports; b) to assess the significance of aircraft noise in causing sleep disturbance; c) to investigate the relationship between exposure to aircraft noise and the degree of sleep disturbance.

Main Topics:

Variables Information was collected on: sleep disturbance (difficulty in getting to sleep, awakenings) over a period of 3 months and on a specific night (the night previous to the survey); times of going to bed/getting up; whether the respondent slept with open or closed windows, whether or not the respondent took sleeping pills, general questions on quality of sleep; demographic details. The interview survey also asked questions specifically about disturbance by aircraft noise and the extent to which children were disturbed. An associated noise measurement programme provided the noise exposure (aircraft and background) at each survey site.

17 areas around Heathrow and 8 around Gatwick were selected, within each of which the external noise levels from aircraft overflight did not differ by more than 3dB. Within each of these areas a random sample of individuals was selected

Face-to-face interview

Postal survey

Physical measurements

noise measurements