Effect of hospital noise on patients' ability to hear, understand, and recall speech

Abstract

Speech intelligibility and recall were examined in normally hearing and hearing-impaired hospitalized patients. Fifty-two participants completed testing in a sound-attenuated booth. While listening to a recorded male speaker talking at conversational level, participants were asked to identify and remember the last (key) word in each of a series of five sentences presented in hospital noise with or without voices at three decibel levels (59, 64, and 69 dBA). Noise level and sentence context had the largest impact on key word identification (p < .001). Noise level had the largest impact on key word recall (p < .001). Type of hospital noise and hearing loss also significantly influenced performance on both measures. These findings have implications for healthcare providers communicating with hospitalized patients.

The Effectiveness of Measures Aimed at Noise Reduction in an Intensive Care Unit

“…High noise levels can also affect patients' ability to hear, understand, and recall conversations with health care providers (Pope et al, 2013). In a study on the impact of noise, it was determined that noise caused disruption and "masking," which resulted in impaired speech discrimination and intelligibility.…”

Reducing Hospital ICU Noise: A Behavior‐Based Approach

“…It therefore is particularly important to reduce noise in this frequency range so as to improve speech intelligibility (a measure of how easily people can have effective verbal communication). In a 2013 article on hospital noise and hearing, Pope and her colleagues stated that the impact of increased hospital noise on patient's "ability to hear, understand and recall" information conveyed by the clinicians to the patients has not been adequately researched [28]. Their study results supported the fact that decreasing the noise levels will increase the speech intelligibility [28].…”

Nurse and Patient Interaction Behaviors’ Effects on Nursing Care Quality for Mechanically Ventilated Older Adults in the ICU

“…Older adults are at an increased risk for communication difficulties because of cognitive decline, physiological changes, including changes in their vision, speech, and hearing, and environmental factors such as noise (Ebert & Heckerling, 1998; Park & Song, 2005; Pope, Gallun, & Kampel, 2013). These changes and environmental factors can contribute to communication breakdowns, misunderstandings, and difficulty recalling what was said (Pope et al, 2013; Yorkston, Bourgeois, & Baylor, 2010).…”

“…These changes and environmental factors can contribute to communication breakdowns, misunderstandings, and difficulty recalling what was said (Pope et al, 2013; Yorkston, Bourgeois, & Baylor, 2010). Older adults may utilize different interaction behaviors during critical illness to compensate for these changes.…”