The acoustic environment of inpatient hospital wards in the United Kingdom.

Abstract

Many hospital noise surveys have shown that patients are subject to high levels of noise, in excess of current World Health Organization guidelines. Much of the previous research has focused on areas perceived to be noisy, such as intensive care units and operating theatres. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive noise survey of five general inpatient hospital wards in the UK. The survey involved continuous noise monitoring over several days, including identification of noise sources, in 31 locations representing a range of typical patient accommodations including single rooms and multi-bed bays, and nurse stations. The results were consistent with those of previous studies with daytime levels ranging from 50 to 61 dB LAeq and nighttime levels from 41 to 51 dB LAeq. Noise levels were not correlated with room/bay size, with single rooms having some of the highest levels. Overall levels were related to reverberation times and to the numbers of high level noise events. Analysis of noise sources showed that much of the noise could be eliminated or reduced through improved design of equipment and ward layouts. In general, noise levels in wards built since the year 2000 were lower than those in the older buildings.