Abstract
Background: In Canada, industrial wind operations are important parts of the country’s long-term energy strategy and Wind Turbines (WTs) are represented as environmentally friendly projects; however, suspected health-related effects of exposure to WT noise have attracted much public attention. Sleep disturbance and degraded Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) have been among the most common complaints reported by residents living close to wind farms.
Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between changes in sleep quality and HRQoL among residents living close to wind farms.
Methods: Pre- and post-natural experiments were conducted with two data collection periods, before and after WTs became operational; sleep quality was measured by using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and HRQoL was measured using the 12-item Short Form (SF-12) Health Survey of 50 participants.
Results: Changes in the SF-12 mental component summary (ΔMCS) were correlated inversely with the changes in PSQI score (ΔPSQI, Spearman’s correlation r_S= -0.595). The median values for ΔMCS were significantly associated with ΔPSQI (p=0.039) after controlling for age, sex, distance and attitude to WTs, in a quantile regression analysis.
Conclusion: Changes in sleep quality reported by residents living nearby WTs were a significant independent predictor of the degraded mental health domain of HRQoL.
Citation
Jalali L, Chaurasia A, Bigelow P, Majowicz S and McColl S. Association of Sleep Quality with Health-Related Quality of Life in Residents Close to Wind Turbines. SM J Psychiatry Ment Health. 2017; 2(1): 1007.