A Scoping Review of the Effects of Classroom Acoustic Conditions on Primary School Children’s Physical Health

Abstract

The aim of this scoping review was to synthesize research assessing the effect of classroom acoustic conditions on children’s physical health and identify areas for future research. This scoping review followed the PRISMA-ScR protocol. A comprehensive search of four online databases (ERIC, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) was conducted using the search term classroom AND (acoustic* OR noise OR reverb*) AND health. Peer-reviewed journal articles were included if they were written in English, included children in the primary school age range (i.e. 5–12 years), and included a measure of children’s physical health. Eight papers out of the 407 papers returned in the search met the criteria to be included in the review. The results were analysed according to the effect of traffic noise, aircraft noise, and internal classroom noise on children’s physical health. The results were somewhat mixed, but overall they suggest that noise may have a negative effect on children’s physical health by inducing a stress response that results in asthma, fatigue, and headaches. Future research avenues are proposed to better understand the relationship between classroom acoustic conditions and children’s physical health.