title: Preliminary noise reduction efforts in a medical intensive care unit.
abstract: Noise is a significant contributor to sleep disruption in the intensive care unit (ICU) that may result in increased patient morbidity such as delirium and prolonged length of stay in ICU. We conducted a pre-post intervention study in a 24-bed tertiary care academic medical ICU to reduce the mean noise levels. Baseline dosimeter recordings of ICU noise levels demonstrated a mean noise level of 54.2 A-weighted decibels (dBA) and peak noise levels of 109.9 dBA, well above the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended levels. There were 1735 episodes of "defects" (maximum noise levels > 60 dBA). Following implementation of multipronged interventions, although the mean noise levels did not change significantly between pre- and post-intervention (54.2 vs 53.8 dBA; p = 0.96), there was a significant reduction in the number of "defects" post-intervention (1735 vs 1289, p ≤ 0.000), and the providers felt that the patients were sleeping longer in the ICU post-intervention.
authors: Divison of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic , Rochester, MN , USA.
authors: Srikant
authors: S
authors: Nannapaneni
authors: Sarah J
authors: SJ
authors: Lee
authors: Markos
authors: M
authors: Kashiouris
authors: Jennifer L
authors: JL
authors: Elmer
authors: Lokendra K
authors: LK
authors: Thakur
authors: Sarah B
authors: SB
authors: Nelson
authors: Catherine T
authors: CT
authors: Bowron
authors: Richard D
authors: RD
authors: Danielson
authors: Salim
authors: S
authors: Surani
authors: Kannan
authors: K
authors: Ramar
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009623:Noise, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States
keywords: Noise; intensive care unit; quality improvement; sleep