Funded by Fondation pour l’Audition FPA 
Funding period: Mai 2023 – April 2026

Project partners 
ENTPE École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l’Etat, Prof. Dr. Catherine Marquis-Favre
Technische Universität Darmstadt, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Ellermeier 

Noise sensitivity is a personal predisposition accounting for an individual’s reaction to noise. It plays a considerable role in capturing individual differences in large-scale public-health studies on noise annoyance. In the research literature, however, there is debate as to how noise sensitivity should be conceptualized or measured. The three-year research project funded by the Fondation pour l’Audition (grant FPA RD-2022-6) aims to investigate this question in-depth by reviewing the pertinent literature, setting up, running and analyzing laboratory experiments as well as conducting surveys. The relevance of this work is the conceptual clarification of the concept and the designation of a reliable measure of noise sensitivity with future applications in public health studies.

La sensibilité au bruit est une prédisposition qui rend compte de la réaction d'un individu au bruit. Elle joue un rôle considérable dans la prise en compte des différences individuelles dans les études de santé publique à grande échelle sur la gêne due au bruit. Dans la littérature scientifique, cependant, la manière dont la sensibilité au bruit devrait être conceptualisée ou mesurée fait débat. Le projet de recherche de trois ans, financé par la Fondation pour l'Audition (subvention FPA RD-2022-6), vise à étudier cette question en profondeur en examinant la littérature pertinente, en mettant en place, en réalisant et en analysant des expériences en laboratoire ainsi qu'en menant des enquêtes. La pertinence de ces travaux est la clarification du concept et la désignation d'une mesure fiable de la sensibilité au bruit avec des applications futures dans les études de santé publique.

The project « Noise sensitivity: Systematic review of the concept and psychometric evaluation of its measurement » has entered into the data-collection phase.

It is a three-way cooperation between Catherine Marquis-Favre (ENTPE, Lyon), Wolfgang Ellermeier (TU Darmstadt) and Karin Zimmer (Universität Vechta). The project is funded by Fondation pour l’Audition, a French foundation to promote research on hearing and hearing impairment. Our project (No. FPA RD 2022-6) started in May 2023 and is going to run until April 2026. Eunsung Song, M.S. (Architectural Civil Engineering) is the doctoral student who works on the project at ENTPE.

The project investigates the concept of individual noise sensitivity by (a) analyzing the research literature through a systematic review, (b) conducting multilingual online surveys on noise sensitivity and related concepts, and (c) designing experiments to identify psychophysiological correlates of noise sensitivity.

Recently, Sang Hee Park, Ph.D., from the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) in Goyang, South Korea, has been affiliated with the project contributing to the joint research with her own resources and strengthening the international perspective of our work.

First results will be presented at

• The 53rd International Congress & Exposition on Noise Control Engineering (Inter-Noise 2024) in Nantes, France, August 25-29, 2024
• The 7th International Congress on Hyperacusis and Misophonia in Warsaw, Poland, September 15-17, 2024