Social inequality, noise pollution, and quality of life of slum dwellers in Pokhara, Nepal

This work is a cross-sectional comparative study conducted on 528 residents in the slum and non-slum areas of Pokhara, Nepal. Of the total number of respondents, 90.2% in the slums and 63.3% in the non-slums indicated the existence of a main source of noise, and 80.7% in the slums and 66.0% in the non-slums replied that they had been highly annoyed by noise. The indoor noise levels measured for 24 h were higher in slums than in non-slums, ranging from 59 to 78 dBA and from 51 to 69 dBA, respectively. The Mann–Whitney U test showed a significantly poorer status of slum dwellers in four health domains. Logistic regression analysis identified that living in a slum was a significant predictor (OR, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.35–4.09) of a low level of health. Meanwhile, a high level of noise annoyance was a good determinant (OR, 6.71; 95% CI, 3.13–14.36) of low quality of life among slum dwellers revealing a distinguishing negative effect of the high level of noise annoyance in the slum areas.