12th International Technology, Education and Development Conference, 5-7 March, 2018, Valencia, Spain

Autor: Mª Llanos Amo-Saus, Milagros Molina-Alarcón, Francisco García-Alcaraz, Manuela García-Moreno, A. Hernádez Martínez, Lourdes Martínez-Esparcia, A. García-López, Marta Carolina Ruiz-Grao
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation
ResearcherID
instname
RUIdeRA: Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Popis: Introduction/Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) considers that noise-related problems can mean health problems. Around 22% of the population in Europe feels affected by the effect of noise. Noise pollution is understood as excess sound that alters the normal conditions of a given area in particular, and of living beings in general. Excess sound is known as noise, which causes noise pollution. Nowadays, the way youths enjoy themselves centres on noise, particularly music, with levels that exceed 100 dBA in leisure areas. Thus noise has become a serious pollution factor and its effects accumulate. Youths more frequently attend these areas who are unaware of the damaging effects of this exposure. The WHO has classified noise effects on the organism into different sections according to their specific effects: Hearing deficiency; Interference in oral communication; Sleep disorders; Physico-physiological effects on mental health and performance; effects on conduct; interference with activities. In relation with the learning process, it has been observed that apart from noise producing impaired hearing among students, it also alters sleep, causes stress and leads to the development of vocal nodules. A series of cognitive effects directly associated with the learning process has also been related given its effect on memory, attention, motivation, and a series of underlying mechanisms and processes. Evaluating the noise level to which university students are exposed in their leisure time has been considered interesting given its implication as a possible barrier against the learning process. Awareness can be raised from the classroom by means of those subjects where these problems to be studied are dealt with; e.g., the Biochemistry subject in Nursing Degree studies. Objective: To know noise levels in the leisure areas to which university students from Albacete (Spain) frequently attend. Method: An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study that randomly selected 12 leisure areas in the city of Albacete. The dependent variable was the equivalent continuous noise level that students were submitted to in their leisure time, while the independent variables were the places where distributed measurements were taken in turns, defined as evening and nighttime. The instrument that measured the noise levels was a Bruel & Kjaer sound level meter type 2.226, collected in Leq dBA. Results: The mean noise levels measured in the defined turns was 78.7 dBA (SD: 4.14 dBA), with higher levels measured in the nighttime turn with a mean of 83.2 dBA (SD: 9.48 dBA). A statistically significant association between the noise levels measured at weekends and on weekdays (p
Databáze: OpenAIRE