Environmental Noise around Hospital Areas: A Case Study

González, David Montes; Morillas, Juan Miguel Barrigón; Escobar, Valentı́n Gómez; Vílchez‐Gómez, Rosendo; Gozalo, Guillermo Rey; Atanasio-Moraga, Pedro; Méndez-Sierra, J.A.

doi:10.3390/environments6040041

Cited by 24 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Montes-González, et.al (2019) reported that one of the main hospitals in the Extremadura region (Spain) is presented here to allow a global assessment of the acoustic impact of outdoor sound sources. Taking into account the results obtained, the noise impact on this hospital is primarily influenced by three sound sources: road traffic, cooling towers of the hospital and the emergency helicopter (18) . Fillary, et.al.…”

Section: Sources Of Sound Levels In Hospitalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Noise Pollution Levels in Hospitals and its Effects on Staff Health in AL - Najaf City in Iraq

2020

IJFMT

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The aim of the study was to determine levels and sources of noise pollution in the hospitals and its effects on staff health in AL -Najaf city in Iraq. The study included measure sound levels in all wards in three hospitals (Al-sadr teaching hospital, Al-hakeem general hospital and Al-zahraa' teaching hospital) using a digital sound level meter. The present work also examined distribution of symptoms caused by noise in employees of three hospitals and main sources of noise in hospitals by using prepared questionnaire through direct interview in the workplace. The results showed that the average measured A-weighted equivalent continuous level (L Aeq ) in all hospitals and in different shifts was more than recommended level (20 -35 dB) of World Health Organization (WHO).The study revealed that the main sources of noise in inside the wards rooms of hospitals Al-Sadr Teaching Hospital, Al-Hakeem General Hospital and Al-Zahraa' Teaching hospital were "staff conversation" (91%); "maneuver-patient treatment" (83%); "doors opening or closing" (77.5%); "mobile phone ringing and conversation" (76.5%).Moreover, it was observed that (32%) of respondents were headache by noise in hospitals . Moreover, the type of noise health effects that most complained among employees were vocal fatigue (31%), dizziness (30.5%), and feeling sick at the end of the workday (28.5%). This study concluded that the noise level in three hospitals was higher than the WHO rating; therefore, this problem causes raising the noise annoyance on of hospital staff.

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Section: Sources Of Sound Levels In Hospitalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Noise Pollution Levels in Hospitals and its Effects on Staff Health in AL - Najaf City in Iraq

2020

IJFMT

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“…Health facilities such as hospitals are one of the most noise-sensitive areas in urban environment since it accommodates several patients including those with underlying health conditions such as cardiovascular, metabolic, and respiratory chronic diseases. This has led to the introduction of very stringent noise limits of 30 and 45 dBA by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), respectively to help control noise levels in indoor hospital environments (Montes-González et al, 2019). An investigation conducted in an intensive care unit (ICU) rooms in Saudi Arabia revealed a slight increase in 12-hour average noise levels during the morning ( 64.1 dBA) compared to the night (62.48 dBA), these levels far exceeded both the WHO hospital limits and outdoor levels of 55 dBA (Alduais and Salama, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Assessment Of The Effect of Indoor Noise On Annoyance, Health And Comfort In Hospital Wards And Intensive Care Unit

Amoatey¹,

Al-Harthy²,

Ma³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Hospital-noise levels can induce physiological responses, and affects sleep quality, which could contribute to cardiovascular-related health problems. Till date, high resolution hospital noise exposure assessment studies have not received much attention in Oman. This study aims at assessing sound pressure levels across hospital wards and intensive care unit (ICU) rooms to determine annoyance, and potential health effects based on perception and risk estimates. An indoor exposure assessment using high precision noise sensors was conducted in a female medical ward (FMW), isolated ward (SLW), emergency ward (EMW), and intensive care Unit (ICU) in a public hospital in Muscat city, Oman. Self–administered questionnaire was randomly distributed among respondents using both online and field survey approach to ascertain annoyance, health effects, and potential risks associated with exposure. The study found that 24–hr noise levels (LAeq) ranged from 55.2–61.7 dB(A) in the hospital wards and ICU rooms, which exceeded WHO’s hospital indoor rooms critical limit of 35 dB(A) by 58% – 76%. A total of 150 participants took part in the survey. Among the respondents, 53% reported moderate annoyance at the hospital wards while 56% felt sensitivity to the noise levels. Noise annoyance was reported by the majority of the patients across the various wards and emergency rooms as causing slight annoyance (50%) and intermittent sleep disturbances (49%). The majority (73%) of the medical staff have complained that the current noise levels affect overall work performance (p = 0.004), while 70% of them have further complained of it as a cause of workplace distraction (p = 0.011). Quantitative risk estimates showed that both the % of highly annoyed (HA) persons (16%), and highly sleep–disturbed (HSD) persons (9%) were very high in FMW, while ICU was found to have the lowest risk. However, the greater number of the respondents (87%) believed there are possibilities of mitigating (p <0.001) the current noise levels.

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“…Hospitais são locais destinados ao tratamento, descanso e recuperação dos pacientes (LOUPA, 2020), normalmente localizados nos centros das cidades por questões de logística e acesso da população. No entanto, esta localização estratégica é intensamente afetada pela poluição sonora ocasionada, principalmente, pelo tráfego de veículos (MONTES-GONZÁLEZ et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

“…Diversos estudos ao redor do mundo avaliaram o ruído gerado por veículos no entorno dos hospitais FERRAZ, 2014;RAVINDRA et al, 2016;MONTES-GONZÁLEZ et al 2019;ANDRADE et al, 2021a). Proposição de medidas mitigadoras deste tipo de poluição, de maneira geral, estão relacionadas a simulações em softwares de acústica, com implementação da redução na frota de veículos circulantes (total, pesados), substituição do tipo de asfalto e redução na velocidade dos veículos (FIEDLER; ZANNIN, 2015;MONTES-GONZÁLEZ et al 2019). Medidas efetivas para avaliação da redução na poluição sonora com comparações são difíceis de serem implantadas, pela complexidade de fatores envolvidos na dinâmica das cidades.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Impact of noise pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic in a hospital area in Sorocaba city, São Paulo State, Brazil

Andrade¹,

Lima²,

Zannin³

2021

RNGC

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Environmental noise is a public health problem that arises mainly from vehicular traffic. In noise-sensitive areas, such as hospitals, the harm is even greater, as noise affects the recovery of patients and causes stress and disturbance to employees. Noise control measures are usually restricted to simulations and mathematical modeling. Given this context, the present study assesses environmental noise around a public hospital in Sorocaba city, São Paulo State, Brazil, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, benefiting from measures to restrict the circulation of vehicles and people. Measurements were performed in triplicate, on weekdays, at four points around the hospital during the day, and followed the guidelines of standard NBR 10.151/2019. The number of light and heavy vehicles was counted manually. The equipment used was the BK 2260 analyzer and a tripod with adjustable height. The circulation of light and heavy vehicles decreased significantly during the pandemic. However, this decrease was not enough for sound levels to meet the 50 dB(A) recommended for noise-sensitive areas. This fact can be due to the speed of the remaining vehicles being above the established for the surrounding streets. Vehicles are the main responsible for the high levels of noise in the area, overlapping the levels generated by the different activities in the study site.

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Environmental Noise around Hospital Areas: A Case Study

Cited by 24 publications

References 45 publications

Evaluation of Noise Pollution Levels in Hospitals and its Effects on Staff Health in AL - Najaf City in Iraq

Evaluation of Noise Pollution Levels in Hospitals and its Effects on Staff Health in AL - Najaf City in Iraq

Spatiotemporal Assessment Of The Effect of Indoor Noise On Annoyance, Health And Comfort In Hospital Wards And Intensive Care Unit

Impact of noise pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic in a hospital area in Sorocaba city, São Paulo State, Brazil

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