Noise pollution in hospitals: Impact on patients

Objective:�Toreviewtheepidemiologyofnoisepollu- tioninhospitalsanditseffectsonpatients. •� Methods:�Reviewoftheliterature. •� Results:� Usingacademicsearchenginessuchas� PubMed,� JSTOR,� andJASA,� aswellascommon� internetsearchengines,� 36� paperswereselected� thatfocusonnoiseasitrelatestopatientsleepdistur- bances,�cardiovascularresponse,�lengthofhospital� stay,�painmanagement,�woundhealing,�andphysio- logicalreactions.�Resultsgenerallyshowthepotential� fornegativephysiologicaleffectwhenpatientsareex- posedtonoise;�however,�conflictingstudiesarealso� reported.�Thisreviewattemptstodefinetheresearch� chaininthecollectedarticlesbydeterminingwhich� acousticcharacteristicswereexamined,�whattypeof� acousticintervention�(ifany)�wasused,�andwhatthe� patientoutcomeswere.��