Aircraft and road traffic noise exposure increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Noise annoyance is the
most frequent response to environmental noise. Noise annoyance has been shown to modify the association of
transport noise exposure on CVD and noise sensitivity moderates the annoyance response to noise. This study
uses prospective data from phases 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 in 3630 male and female civil servants from the UK Whitehall
II Study to examinewhether a single question on noise sensitivity measured by annoyance responses to noise in
general predicts physical and mental ill-health andmortality. Non-fatalmyocardial infarction and strokemorbid-ityover the follow-upweredefinedbyMONICAcriteriabasedon studyECGs, hospital records, hospital admission
statistics or General Practitioner confirmation. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Center for Epidemi-ologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and psychological distress by the General Health questionnaire (GHQ).
There was no association between noise sensitivity and CVD morbidity or mortality except in people from
lower employment gradeswhere therewas an association with angina. Noise sensitivitywas a consistent predic-tor of depressive symptoms and psychological distress at phases 3, 5 and 7. High noise sensitivity scores at base-line predicted GHQ caseness at phase 3 adjusting for age, sex, employment grade, self-rated health and GHQ
caseness at baseline (OR = 1.56 95% CI 1.29–1.88). Noise sensitivity has been identified as a predictor of mental
ill-health. More longitudinal research is needed including measures of noise exposure