Noise levels in Johns Hopkins Hospital

Busch‐Vishniac, Ilene J.; West, James E.; Barnhill, Colin; Hunter, Tyrone; Orellana, Douglas; Chivukula, Ram

doi:10.1121/1.2118327

Cited by 315 publications

(231 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Busch-Vishniac et al 25 assessed the spectral content of noise at various locations around Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland. In all the locations they examined, the sound spectrum was flat between 63 and 1000 Hz, with a gradual roll-off at higher frequencies.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sound Intensity and Noise Evaluation in a Critical Care Unit

Lawson

Thompson

Saunders

et al. 2010

American Journal of Critical Care

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Background Sound levels in intensive care units can be high. Unfortunately, high levels of sound tend to result in poor sleep quality, which leads to slower healing, poorer immune response, and decreased cognitive function. Objectives To measure sound levels to which patients in intensive care units are typically exposed. Methods Peak sound pressure levels of alarms on medical devices set at different output levels were measured. Additionally, ambient sound pressure levels for durations of 10 to 24 hours were measured on 12 occasions in patients' rooms in the intensive care unit. Results Peak levels of equipment alarms measured inside a patient's room were high, and increased as the setting of the alarm level increased. The levels of these alarms when measured in an adjacent room did not increase with alarm output level. Mean sound levels inside the patient's room were generally less than 45 dB(A), but peak levels were often greater than 85 dB(C). Closing the door of the adjacent room did not decrease these peak levels. Peak and mean levels did not differ systematically during 24 hours of measurement. Conclusions High-intensity equipment alarms disturb patients' sleep but are critical in a medical emergency. However, nurses should not assume that raising the alarm output level will ensure that the alarm is audible from an adjacent room. Ambient noise measurements indicate high peak levels during both day and night. (American Journal of Critical Care. 2010;19:e88-e99)

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sound Intensity and Noise Evaluation in a Critical Care Unit

Lawson

Thompson

Saunders

et al. 2010

American Journal of Critical Care

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“…The World Health Organization (WHO) set out guidelines to keep sound level to a minimum in hospital environments (Berglund et al, 2000). However, since the 1960s sound levels have risen (Busch-Vishniac et al, 2005). Research has considered the sound level in reference to the WHO guidelines (Akansel and Kaymakci, 2008, Anand et al, 2009, Tijunelis et al, 2005, Hagerman et al, 2005 and has generally agreed that existing levels exceed recommendations by around 20-30dB(A).…”

Section: Designing Soundscapes For Subjective Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Proposing a Conceptual Framework to Develop the Hospital Soundscape Through Visual Communication

2016

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A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the 'permanent WRAP URL' above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. ABSTRACTSound level measurement is used to assess sound within any environment, never more so than in hospitals. This is due to the negative effects that high sound level can have on patients and staff. However, other ways of exploring sound and the soundscape within the hospital context have been used: sound art has conveyed the experiences of heart transplant patients.Art may act as juxtaposition to objective sound level measurement but the two fundamentally attempt to depict attributes of the soundscape. Using theory from design and concepts from art a framework is presented for designing a positive soundscape experience. This is not through the addition of sound per-se but through creatively communicating the information contained within a soundscape to enable the everyday listener to interpret a cacophony of hospital sounds more positively. In representing visual communication of sound as a design object, a new way to explore sound may exist.Keyword: Hospital; Soundscape; Design; Visual Communication Please cite this article In Press as: Mackrill, J., Cain, R., Jennings, P. (2016) Proposing a conceptual framework to develop the hospital soundscape through visual communication. The Design Journal.

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“…3. A comparative cumulative frequency of the levels of LAeq at each 15-min interval over the daytime (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17) and the nighttime (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) in the 16 surveyed hospital lobbies.…”

Section: Noise Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing Subjective Noisiness in Hospital Lobbies

Chen¹

2015

Archives of Acoustics

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The present study was conducted in the lobbies of 16 Taiwanese urban hospitals to establish what contributes to the degree of noisiness experienced by patients and those accompanying them. Noise level measurements were then conducted by 15 min equivalent sound pressure levels (LAeq, 15 m, dB) during daytime hours. The average LAeq itself was found to be poorly related to perceived noisiness. Levels variations were better correlated, more continual noise may actually be perceived as noisier. According to the findings of a multiple linear stepwise regression model (r = 0.91, R 2 = 0.83), the 3 independent variables shown to have the largest effects on perceived noisiness were 1) 1/(L5 −L95), 2) effective duration of the normalized autocorrelation function (τe, h), of all LAeq, 15 m over 9-17, and 3) percentile loudness, N5, 15 m. These results resemble previous studies that had assumed that a larger fluctuation of noise level corresponds to less annoyance experienced for mixed traffic noise studied in a laboratory situation. As an advanced approach, for hospital noise that consisted of 12 audible noise events, subjective noisiness were evaluated by the noise time structure analyzed by autocorrelation with loudness and levels variation.

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Noise levels in Johns Hopkins Hospital

Cited by 315 publications

References 66 publications

Sound Intensity and Noise Evaluation in a Critical Care Unit

Sound Intensity and Noise Evaluation in a Critical Care Unit

Proposing a Conceptual Framework to Develop the Hospital Soundscape Through Visual Communication

Characterizing Subjective Noisiness in Hospital Lobbies

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