Qutub Hatem O, El-Said Khaled F
Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
J Family Community Med. 2009 May;16(2):53-7.
Noise is recognized as a source of hazard to the patient's environment. Studies have also shown that it has a direct impact on mortality and morbidity as a result of sleep deprivation which affects the immunity of critically ill patients.
The aim of this study was to measure levels of environmental noise in a six- bed, open-plan general medical intensive care unit (MICU).
Levels of exposure to environmental noise were assessed in the intensive care unit of King Fahad Hospital of the University (KFHU) where measurements of environmental noise were taken using calibrated sound level meter during shifts of working days and weekends.
Statistical analysis revealed that there were no significant differences between noise levels in the morning, evening and night shifts of working days and weekends in the ICU of KFHU (p value =0.155, 0.53 and 0.711) respectively. There was no significant difference between overall level of exposure to noise in the working days and weekends as well (p-value=0.71). However, the assessed levels of exposures to noise were still higher than stipulated international standards.
Some sources of environmental noise, such as the use of oxygen, suction equipment or respirators are unavoidable. Nevertheless, hospital ICUs should have measures to minimize the level of exposure to noise in the ICU. Further research in this area might focus on the noise level and other modifiable environmental stress factors in the ICU that affect patients as well as the staff.
噪声被认为是患者环境中的一个危险因素。研究还表明，由于睡眠剥夺会影响重症患者的免疫力，噪声对死亡率和发病率有直接影响。
本研究的目的是测量一个有六张床位的开放式综合内科重症监护病房（MICU）的环境噪声水平。
在法赫德国王大学医院（KFHU）的重症监护病房评估环境噪声暴露水平，在工作日和周末的班次期间使用校准的声级计进行环境噪声测量。
统计分析显示，KFHU重症监护病房工作日和周末的早班、晚班和夜班噪声水平之间无显著差异（p值分别为0.155、0.53和0.711）。工作日和周末的总体噪声暴露水平之间也无显著差异（p值=0.71）。然而，评估的噪声暴露水平仍高于规定的国际标准。
一些环境噪声源，如使用氧气、吸引设备或呼吸机是不可避免的。尽管如此，医院重症监护病房应采取措施尽量降低重症监护病房的噪声暴露水平。该领域的进一步研究可能集中在重症监护病房影响患者和工作人员的噪声水平及其他可改变的环境压力因素上。
