title: An Exploratory and Comparative Evaluation on the Spatial Perception of Two Densities of Multioccupancy Hospital Rooms.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this article was to explore interior spatial qualifications on patient perception of two densities of multioccupancy hospital rooms.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The research setting of this study was the three- and six-person capacity hospital rooms used for treatment of patients at a large hospital in a major metropolitan city in Turkey.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects used in the study were randomly selected from among patients treated in the surgical medical sciences' departments of the hospital. Accordingly, a research questionnaire was applied to a total of 101 subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results have shown that the three-person rooms were assessed more positively for privacy, functional, and perceptual qualifications compared to the six-person rooms. An increase in the number of persons and interior units of rooms affects negatively the auditory privacy and privacy areas of other patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consequently, although these rooms with different spatial sizes were very similar for concentration of persons and commodities, six-person rooms were perceived to be more crowded than three-person rooms.
authors: Department of Furniture and Decoration, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey kemaly@gazi.edu.tr.
authors: Kemal
authors: K
authors: Yildirim
authors: Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, TOBB ETU University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Meryem
authors: M
authors: Yalcin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003441:Crowding / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000592:standards; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007374:Interior Design and Furnishings / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072458:Orientation, Spatial; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000523:psychology*; D010362:Patients' Rooms / Q000592:standards*; D010465:Perception; D018907:Privacy / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: hospital; interior space; patient room; privacy; spatial perception