ArticlePloS one2013
On the influence of freight trains on humans: a laboratory investigation of the impact of nocturnal low frequency vibration and noise on sleep and heart rate.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 107 citations in OpenAlex.
- WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region: A Systematic Review on Environmental Noise and Effects on Sleep.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Pooled it
- Effect of oral melatonin and wearing earplugs and eye masks on nocturnal sleep in healthy subjects in a simulated intensive care unit environment: which might be a more promising strategy for ICU sleep deprivation?Critical care (London, England) · 2015Trial
- Pink noise reduces impact of traffic noise on sleep and the blood metabolome: a cross-over pilot study.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Earth Vertical Motions Disrupt Sleep and Next Day Performance.Nature and science of sleep · 2026Article
- Influence of types of railway traffic on ground borne vibration towards vibration threshold limit.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Effects of railway noise and vibrations on dissatisfaction of residents: case study of Iran.Environment, development and sustainability · 2022Article
- Effects of Exposure to Road, Railway, Airport and Recreational Noise on Blood Pressure and Hypertension.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Noise and Vibration in the Vivarium: Recommendations for Developing a Measurement Plan.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2020Article
- Association between Occupational Noise and Vibration Exposure and Insomnia among Workers in Korea.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Residential noise from nearby oil and gas well construction and drilling.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2018Article
- Annoyance in Response to Vibrations from Railways.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
- Physiological effects of railway vibration and noise on sleep.The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2017Article
- Vibration from freight trains fragments sleep: A polysomnographic study.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- Hypotension and environmental noise: a replication study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2014Article
- Effects of train noise and vibration on human heart rate during sleep: an experimental study.BMJ open · 2013Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA substantial increase in transportation of goods on railway may be hindered by public fear of increased vibration and noise leading to annoyance and sleep disturbance. As the majority of freight trains run during night time, the impact upon sleep is expected to be the most serious adverse effect. The impact of nocturnal vibration on sleep is an area currently lacking in knowledge. We experimentally investigated sleep disturbance with the aim to ascertain the impact of increasing vibration amplitude. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsThe impacts of various amplitudes of horizontal vibrations on sleep disturbance and heart rate were investigated in a laboratory study. Cardiac accelerations were assessed using a combination of polysomnography and ECG recordings. Sleep was assessed subjectively using questionnaires. Twelve young, healthy subjects slept for six nights in the sleep laboratory, with one habituation night, one control night and four nights with a variation of vibration exposures whilst maintaining the same noise exposure. With increasing vibration amplitude, we found a decrease in latency and increase in amplitude of heart rate as well as a reduction in sleep quality and increase in sleep disturbance. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We concluded that nocturnal vibration has a negative impact on sleep and that the impact increases with greater vibration amplitude. Sleep disturbance has short- and long-term health consequences. Therefore, it is necessary to define levels that protect residents against sleep disruptive vibrations that may arise from night time railway freight traffic.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.