Noise stress for patients in hospitals – A literature survey

Abstract

The growing number of publications on noise in hospitals reflects not only a rising interest in this theme during the last decades, but also an increasing noise exposure of the patients: the average SPL reported in literature between 1960 and 2005 has risen from 57 to 72 dBA in daytime and from 42 to 60 dBA at night. The hospitals in question differ substantially with regard to type of construction, technical equipment, and organizational issues. But especially for intensive care units (ICUs), the main sources of noise described in international research are similar: sounds from technical appliance such as alarms, noise caused by the staff talking or handling material, and communication systems such as overhead paging. With regard to patients in ICUs, sleep disturbances in terms of falling asleep and sleeping through are the greatest problem as assessed by questionnaires or by physiological measurements. They might have harmful effects on the outcome of the medical treatment influencing the duration of recovery and the need for sedative medication. Several intervention programmes for noise reduction are reported in literature combining a variety of methods such as acoustical insulation, sound level reduction with regard to equipment, and especially behavior modification of the staff.