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.

Outcomes of a controlled trial with visiting therapy dog teams on pain in adults in an emergency department

“…Common environmental stressors, such as constant bright lighting and noise levels [9,10], may disrupt ED patients' rest patterns. This can slow down the recovery process and prolong patients' symptoms of pain [11,12]. Moreover, as waiting for extended periods of time is typical of the ED patient experience, patients' sensory awareness may be heightened and they may lack sufficient distraction, both which may amplify their perceptions of pain [9].…”

Commercialization of the Carbon Nanotube Thermophone for Active Noise Control Applications

“…In hospitals, excess noise can inhibit patient recovery [30,34,50,55]. In schools, particularly elementary schools, noise has a known negative correlation with student learning outcomes [54,63,78].…”