Sound Pollution May Cause Medical Errors

A recent research project, by acoustics experts Ilene Busch-Vishniac and James E. West, acoustical engineers at Johns Hopkins University Hospital (Baltimore, MD, USA), showed that noise disturbs patients and staff members, raises the risk of medical errors, and hinders efforts to modernize hospitals with speech-recognition systems.

Although hospital noise is among the top complaints of both patients and hospital staff members, little is being done to address the problem. Since most of the hospital noise falls in the human speech frequency range, oral communication becomes more difficult, forcing patients and staff to raise their voices even higher. This sound congestion could lead to a misunderstanding of spoken orders for tests and medication, the researchers said.

Some studies even indicate that excessive noise can slow the pace of healing and contribute to stress and burnout among hospital workers. It has also been reported that noise can contribute to lapses in short-term memory, which could then introduce safety concerns.

The research found that hospital noise levels internationally have grown steadily over the past five decades. Average daytime hospital sound levels around the world have risen from 57 decibels to 72; nighttime levels have jumped from 42 decibels to 60, exceeding World Health Organization's guideline that sound levels in patient rooms should not exceed 35 decibels.

Some solutions suggested by Drs. Busch-Vishniac and West were successfully implemented. In the pediatric intensive care ward of Johns Hopkins University Hospital, staff workers were issued personal pagers, which cut the frequency of overhead loudspeaker pages to about once an hour, instead of every five minutes. A cancer unit was outfitted with sound-absorbers, constructed by wrapping fiberglass insulation inside an anti-bacterial fabric and attaching it to the ceiling to reduce reverberation by a third.

Although these tactics were successful, Dr. West cautioned that "the majority of hospital noise problems, particularly involving the air handling systems, are not that easy to fix.”

Drs. West and Busch-Vishniac said long-range solutions will require that skilled acoustics experts and architects work closely together to reduce noise problems when planning future hospitals and during renovations of existing medical centers.





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