title: The influence of neonatal intensive care unit design on sound level.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Excessive noise in nurseries has been found to cause adverse effects in infants, especially preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The NICU design may influence the background sound level. We compared the sound level in two differently designed spaces in one NICU. We hypothesized that the sound level in an enclosed space would be quieter than in an open space.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sound levels were measured continuously 24 hours a day in two separate spaces at the same time, one enclosed and one open. Sound-level meters were placed near beds in each room. Sound levels were expressed as decibels, A-weighted (dBA) and presented as hourly L(eq), L(max), L(10), and L(90).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The hourly L(eq) in the open space (50.8-57.2dB) was greater than that of the enclosed space (45.9-51.7dB), with a difference of 0.4-10.4dB, and a mean difference of 4.5dB (p<0.0001). The hourly L(10), L(90), and L(max) in the open space also exceeded that in the enclosed space (p<0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The sound level measured in the enclosed space was quieter than in the open space. The design of bed space should be taken into consideration when building a new NICU. Besides the design of NICU architecture, continuous monitoring of sound level in the NICU is important to maintain a quiet environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, St. Joseph's Hospital, Yunlin,Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsin-Li
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chao-Huei
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chih-Chao
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Hsiu-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Teh-Ming
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chia-Chi
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D006749:Hospital Design and Construction / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal / Q000592:standards*; D009622:Noise