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A Cross-Sectional Survey on the Impact of Irrelevant Speech Noise on Annoyance, Mental Health and Well-being, Performance and Occupants’ Behavior in Shared and Open-Plan Offices

Author

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  • Sonja Di Blasio

    (Department of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

  • Louena Shtrepi

    (Department of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

  • Giuseppina Emma Puglisi

    (Department of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

  • Arianna Astolfi

    (Department of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

Abstract

This cross-sectional survey has compared subjective outcomes obtained from workers in shared (2–5 occupants) and open-plan (+5 occupants) offices, related to irrelevant speech, which is the noise that is generated from conversations between colleagues, telephone calls and laughter. Answers from 1078 subjects (55% in shared offices and 45% in open-plan offices) have shown that irrelevant speech increases noise annoyance, decreases work performance, and increases symptoms related to mental health and well-being more in open-plan than in shared offices. Workers often use headphones with music to contrast irrelevant speech in open-plan offices, while they take a break, change their working space, close the door or work from home in shared offices. Being female, when there are more than 20 occupants, and working in southern cities without acoustic treatments in the office, make it more likely for the occupants to be annoyed by irrelevant speech noise in open-plan offices. While, working in southern cities and with acoustic treatments in the office makes it more likely that noise annoyance will be reported in shared offices. Finally, more than 70% of the interviewed in open-plan offices were willing to reduce their voice volumes when advised by a noise monitoring system with a lighting feedback.

Suggested Citation

  • Sonja Di Blasio & Louena Shtrepi & Giuseppina Emma Puglisi & Arianna Astolfi, 2019. "A Cross-Sectional Survey on the Impact of Irrelevant Speech Noise on Annoyance, Mental Health and Well-being, Performance and Occupants’ Behavior in Shared and Open-Plan Offices," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:2:p:280-:d:199151
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ioannis A. Sakellaris & Dikaia E. Saraga & Corinne Mandin & Célina Roda & Serena Fossati & Yvonne De Kluizenaar & Paolo Carrer & Sani Dimitroulopoulou & Victor G. Mihucz & Tamás Szigeti & Otto Hännine, 2016. "Perceived Indoor Environment and Occupants’ Comfort in European “Modern” Office Buildings: The OFFICAIR Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Oliviero A. Carboni & Paolo Russu, 2018. "Measuring and forecasting regional environmental and economic efficiency in Italy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(4), pages 335-353, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jagjeet Singh & Lakshmi Babu Saheer & Oliver Faust, 2023. "Speech Emotion Recognition Using Attention Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Nan Zhang & Boni Su & Pak-To Chan & Te Miao & Peihua Wang & Yuguo Li, 2020. "Infection Spread and High-Resolution Detection of Close Contact Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-18, February.
    3. Kokoro Natomi & Haruka Kato & Daisuke Matsushita, 2022. "Work-Related Stress of Work from Home with Housemates Based on Residential Types," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-14, March.
    4. Yoko E. Fukumura & Julie McLaughlin Gray & Gale M. Lucas & Burcin Becerik-Gerber & Shawn C. Roll, 2021. "Worker Perspectives on Incorporating Artificial Intelligence into Office Workspaces: Implications for the Future of Office Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-15, February.
    5. Francesco Aletta & Jian Kang, 2019. "Promoting Healthy and Supportive Acoustic Environments: Going beyond the Quietness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-4, December.
    6. Tung-Ju Wu & Jia-Ying Gao & Lian-Yi Wang & Kuo-Shu Yuan, 2020. "Exploring Links between Polychronicity and Job Performance from the Person–Environment Fit Perspective—The Mediating Role of Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-12, May.

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