Environmental research
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Environmental research · Jul 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialHealth complaints and wind turbines: The efficacy of explaining the nocebo response to reduce symptom reporting.
A number of people are reporting an environmental sensitivity to sub-audible windfarm sound (infrasound), characterised by the experience of recurrent non-specific symptoms. A causal link between exposure and symptoms is not indicated by empirical evidence. Research indicates symptoms may be explained by the nocebo response, whereby health concerns and negative expectations, created from social discourse and media reports, trigger symptom reporting. ⋯ Results indicate that providing an explanation of the nocebo response, followed by exposure to infrasound, has the potential to operate as an intervention to reduce symptomatic experiences in people reporting symptoms attributed to windfarm generated infrasound.