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A prospective follow-up study of the effects of chronic aircraft noise exposure on learners’ reading comprehension in South Africa

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 25, pages 84–88 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The purpose of this epidemiological study was to investigate the long-term effects of exposure to aircraft noise on reading comprehension on a sample of South African children. Given the impairment of reading comprehension found within the noised-exposed group before the relocation of the airport, it was the intention of this study to determine whether the effects of aircraft noise on reading comprehension remained after the relocation of the airport or whether they disappeared. A cohort of 732 learners with a mean age of 11.1 years participated at baseline measurements in 2009 and 650 (mean age=12.3) and 178 (mean age=13.1) learners were reassessed after the relocation of the airport in 2010 and 2011, respectively. The results revealed no significant effect of the groups on reading comprehension across the testing periods, but significant effects of home language were demonstrated on reading comprehension. These findings suggest that exposure to chronic aircraft noise may have a lasting impact on children’s reading comprehension functioning.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge assistance of the reviewers; as well as children who participated in the study, without whom, this study would not have been possible. In addition, we thank Stephen Stansfeld and Charlotte Clark for allowing access to the RANCH test materials. This material is based upon work supported financially by the National Research Foundation (NRF). This publication was also made possible (in part) by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, School of Human and Community Development, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Joseph Seabi, Kate Cockcroft & Michael Greyling

  2. Department of Geography, School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Paul Goldschagg

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  1. Joseph Seabi
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  2. Kate Cockcroft
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  3. Paul Goldschagg
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  4. Michael Greyling
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Correspondence to Joseph Seabi.

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Seabi, J., Cockcroft, K., Goldschagg, P. et al. A prospective follow-up study of the effects of chronic aircraft noise exposure on learners’ reading comprehension in South Africa. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 25, 84–88 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2013.71

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