Effect of white noise and traffic noise on heart rate variabilty in young adult males

Introduction: The humans are extensively affected by noise, ranging from slight annoyance to hearing loss. The direct and indirect health-related effects of noise on humans are hearing impairment, speech disturbance, dysfunction of the ANS and cardiovascular system etc. Aim: To determine the effect of white noise and traffic noise on HRV in young adult males. Materials and Methods: 50 young male volunteers are taken for study and are randomly divided into two groups according to the type of noise they were exposed to white, traffic noise. Also measured HRV parameters before and after exposure t o noise. The HRV parameters are evaluated while patients seated for 5 minutes and frequency domain analysis were then performed with the help of (Instrument) RMS polyrite – D version 3.0.11. Results: There was a significant (p and a significant(p Thus indicating increased sympathetic activity and reduced parasympathetic activity in traffic noise. Discussion: In this study there was a significant (p to white noise, and a significant (p to white noise. Thus indicating increased sympathetic activity and reduced parasympathetic activity in traffic noise. These results are in accordance with those of previous studies, which showed that classical music increased comfort and decreased the LF level. Conclusion: These results suggest that with appropriate noise exposure levels, we could observe activated ANS function and an improved degree of overall balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. These results suggest that an appropriate noise level can positively affect the ANS. Keywords: White noice, Traffic noice, LF/HF, Cardiac activity, AFT.