PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE ON THE HEALTH OF RURAL AND URBAN COMMUNITIES IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA.

Kareem, M. I. and R. W. Olatunji

Centre for Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development (CESSED),

Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos.

ABSTRACT

Lagos has been experiencing serious environmental challenges especially in the area of environmental noise as a result of urbanization with aftermath effect of health disease. This research sought to establish the perceived influence of environmental noise on the health of the residents in rural and urban communities in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study bridge the gap with former research works that only concentrated on urban areas without consideration for rural communities.

Quantitative survey served as the research design while purposive sampling techniques was employed to select respondents who participated in the study. 400 respondents from rural and urban areas of Lagos State filled in questionnaires regarding their perceived influence of environmental noise on their health. SPSS analysis was done using ANOVA and Independent sample t-test to determine the significant difference in the study areas.

The findings of this study indicate that there is no statistically significant difference in the perceived influence of environmental noise on the health between the residents of rural communities (Mean = 1.764, SD = 0.620) and urban communities (Mean = 1.802, SD = 0.545) in Lagos State.

Key Words:  Environmental Noise, Perceived, Health, Residents.