The effectiveness of environmental strategies on noise reduction in a pediatric intensive care unit: Creation of single‐patient bedrooms and reducing noise sources

Kol, Emine; Aydın, Perihan; Dursun, Oğuz

doi:10.1111/jspn.12116

Cited by 13 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(54 reference statements)

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“…Intensive care units are particularly noisy areas of hospitals . Neonatal units have average sound pressure levels of 48–61 dB for up to 95% of the time , paediatric units average 53–73 dB and adult units are 53–59 dB . The unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital when measured in 2012 had daytime averages of 58 dB at the desk and 60 dB adjacent to the patient .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping sources of noise in an intensive care unit

et al. 2019

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Summary Excessive noise in hospitals adversely affects patients’ sleep and recovery, causes stress and fatigue in staff and hampers communication. The World Health Organization suggests sound levels should be limited to 35 decibels. This is probably unachievable in intensive care units, but some reduction from current levels should be possible. A preliminary step would be to identify principal sources of noise. As part of a larger project investigating techniques to reduce environmental noise, we installed a microphone array system in one with four beds in an adult general intensive care unit. This continuously measured locations and sound pressure levels of noise sources. This report summarises results recorded over one year. Data were collected between 7 April 2017 and 16 April 2018 inclusive. Data for a whole day were available for 248 days. The sound location system revealed that the majority of loud sounds originated from extremely limited areas, very close to patients’ ears. This proximity maximises the adverse effects of high environmental noise levels for patients. Some of this was likely to be appropriate communication between the patient, their caring staff and visitors. However, a significant proportion of loud sounds may originate from equipment alarms which are sited at the bedside. A redesign of the intensive care unit environment to move alarm sounds away from the bed‐side might significantly reduce the environmental noise burden to patients.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping sources of noise in an intensive care unit

et al. 2019

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“…52,53 Majority of our PICU is already composed of single-patient rooms (20 private rooms out of 26 bed spaces), which have been shown to reduce patient exposure to noise pollution. 54 Although equipment alarms likely contribute significantly to noise pollution, this was not an easily modifiable source in our PICU. 55 Therefore, we focused on other easy-to-perform tasks that could reduce noise pollution impacting sleep quality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…As the human ear senses a decrease of 6 dB as half the loudness, we believe that the degree of noise pollution reduction by the Evening BED was clinically relevant. 14,54 This is the first report of sound levels in the PICU rooms meeting the EPA standards. The reduction in noise pollution may even be greater than indicated by the comparison to other nonpilot occupied rooms because the pilot patients were more clinically ill.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality Improvement Initiative to Reduce Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Noise Pollution With the Use of a Pediatric Delirium Bundle

Kawai

Weatherhead

Traube

et al. 2017

J Intensive Care Med

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“…The noise level measurements after these changes showed that the mean noise level dropped to 56 dBA. The difference between the pre-and post-measurements was statistically significant (10). In another study conducted in Turkey, the investigators investigated five hospitals and found out that the mean noise levels were between 55 and 75 dBA, which were above the recommended limits (11).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Düzce Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Hastanesi Polikliniklerinin Gürültü Düzeylerinin Belirlenmesi

Yildirim

Mayda

2019

Konuralp Tıp Dergisi

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Methods: The noise level was measured continuously for five days and eight hours a day at 11 measurement points in the waiting areas of the outpatient clinics. The device was set to give an hourly average. This was a descriptive study and there was no sample selection. SPSS statistical package was used and Kruskal Wallis, Mann-Whitney U, Friedman and Wilcoxon tests were performed for data analysis. A value of p <0.05 was considered significant. Results: The average noise level was 62.1 dBA (min 48.5dBA and max 70.8dBA). This value and even the minimum measured value were above the threshold values specified in the EPA, WHO and Environmental Noise Assessment and Management Regulations. Although their noise levels were also above the thresholds, only the radiology outpatient clinics have significantly lower values than the others (p <0.05). The noise levels had no significant differences among days or hours. Conclusions: The measured noise levels were above the threshold values in the waiting areas of the outpatient clinics. Noise prevention measures should be considered.

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The effectiveness of environmental strategies on noise reduction in a pediatric intensive care unit: Creation of single‐patient bedrooms and reducing noise sources

Abstract: Single-patient rooms and noise-reducing strategies can be effective in controlling environmental noise in the ICU.

Cited by 13 publications

References 41 publications

Mapping sources of noise in an intensive care unit

Mapping sources of noise in an intensive care unit

Quality Improvement Initiative to Reduce Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Noise Pollution With the Use of a Pediatric Delirium Bundle

Düzce Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Hastanesi Polikliniklerinin Gürültü Düzeylerinin Belirlenmesi

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