title: Pre-post pilot study of noise levels at a university hospital center pharmacy department.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Noise interferes with attention, speech understanding, detection of other auditory stimuli, and leads to interruptions.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This is a pre-post cross-sectional observational study aimed at measuring noise levels in a 500-bed mother-child university hospital center pharmacy department after the implementation of corrective measures, such as work zone reorganization, digitization of the prescription process, and education about the impact of some work habits.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 24 measurement points (70 noise level measurements) were taken in 2007 (pre) compared to 30 measurement points (59 noise level measurements) in 2012 (post). There was a statistically significant difference in the average values of the day and night noise measurements (day 59.4 ± 5.3 dB(A) vs night 52.3 ± 8.0 dB(A); P < .001). There were no statistically significant differences in the average values of the noise measurements taken during daytime between the prestudy and poststudy phases (pre 59.4 ± 5.3 vs post 58.07 ± 6.01 dB(A); P = .22).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Few data exist on the noise levels in hospital pharmacy departments. In spite of the corrective measures implemented, reducing noise levels in pharmacy departments was difficult to achieve. Average values of approximately 60 dB(A) seem to be unacceptable for work that requires a high level of attention.
authors: Département de Pharmacie, Unité de recherche en pratique pharmaceutique, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors: Aurélie
authors: A
authors: Guérin
authors: Tony
authors: T
authors: Leroux
authors: Jean-François
authors: JF
authors: Bussières
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D009622:Noise; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital; D010865:Pilot Projects
keywords: attention; hospital; interruption; noise; pharmacy service