Rise in Hospital Noise Poses Problems for Patients, Staff; Acoustics Experts Say Medical Sound Pollution Is Widely Recognized, Rarely Addressed.

AScribe Health News Service, November, 2005

Byline: Johns Hopkins University

BALTIMORE, Nov. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Announcements blare from overhead speakers. Electronic devices beep. Heating and cooling systems rumble. Employees and visitors speak loudly.

This sound snapshot, researchers say, comes not from a factory or a sports stadium but from a typical hospital. In a new study, Johns Hopkins University acoustical engineers found that hospital noise levels internationally have grown steadily over the past five decades, disturbing patients and staff members, raising the risk of medical errors and hindering efforts to modernize hospitals with speech recognition systems. Some studies even indicate that excessive noise can slow the pace of healing and contribute to stress and burnout among...

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