Noise in hospitals exceeds standards - study confirms. How can architecture help?

18 of December '24

Knauf Ceiling Solutions

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The WHO recommends that noise in hospitals should be no more than 40 dB. However, numerous studies confirm that noise levels in medical facilities are as high as 100 dB. It's like non-stop listening to loud music with headphones. Under these conditions, patient recovery is hampered. Architects can help, betting on design aimed at leveling unwanted sounds.

Noise negatively affects health - a truism, but how important when it comes to the well-being of people, especially patients in hospitals and medical facilities. There is no shortage of sources there that generate unwanted sounds: the main problem is working equipment, plus the conversations of patients and visitors, medical staff communicating among themselves, and sounds penetrating from the street. Is it really a problem? Yes, many studies confirm it.

Ružomberok Military Hospital

Photo: Jakub Joachim © Knauf Ceiling Solutions

Confirmations are coming from Europe. Researchers in Italy, led by Prof. Sergio Luzzi, who has specialized for years in acoustics, among other subjects, and is a member of the European Acoustical Society and the International Institute of Sound and Vibration, examined noise levels at the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital in Florence. The results indicated unequivocally that the noise level in operating rooms is always 60 dB, and reaches as high as 90 dB. This is a significant exceeding of the standard. According to WHO recommendations, it should be 30 dB, with a maximum of 40 dB.

Ružomberok Military Hospital

Photo: Jakub Joachim © Knauf Ceiling Solutions

Even more alarming data were pointed out by researchers from King`s College London and the University of the Arts London (UAL). In the intensive care unit (ICU), the noise was as high as 100 dB. The results of studies in other regions of the world are no better.

At the Dr. Antoni Jurasz University Hospital in Bydgoszcz, hygienic ceilings help reduce the noise level generated by medical equipment.

Photo: Szymon Polanski © Knauf Ceiling Solutions

architects can support treatment

The interior quality of medical facilities: color scheme, acoustics, hygienic safety can support the healing of patients. Architects designing healthcare facilities face a double challenge: they must think technically, but should not forget the soft aspects of design.

- This is not an easy task. All materials used for hospital interiors from medical rooms to operating rooms and laboratories, the so-called clean room, must be non-flammable, non-toxic and meet microbiological cleanliness classes. When we add to this improved acoustics and design, designers have quite a dilemma as to which solutions to reach for

- notes Wojciech Krzyzowski of Knauf Ceiling Solutions. The company has specialized for years in, among other things, acoustic ceilings dedicated to healthcare.

The innovation of Knauf Ceiling Solutions, and on a global scale, lies primarily in the use of a special coating in hygienic ceilings. Tiles from the HYGENA Aquatec and MEDIGUARD Alpha and Acoustic lines have the best microbiological purity class(M1), which inhibits bacterial growth. In addition, they are waterproof and can be cleaned frequently. The most advanced solutions, such as METAL BIOGUARD metal ceilings, are also resistant to cleaning with chemicals.

Noise in hospitals exceeds standards - research confirms it

The antimicrobial properties of ceiling tiles raise the level of hygiene and prevent the spread of diseases and infectious agents. This translates directly into the health of patients and a reduction in the risk of hospital-acquired infections.

Noise in hospitals exceeds standards - research confirms it

The second technical aspect, crucial in the selection of materials for medical interiors, is the impact of indoor air. Knauf Ceiling Solutions hygienic ceilings meet Class A+ according to French regulations on VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), formaldehyde (E1) and Indoor Air Comfort Gold.

Hospital partitioning zones according to French standard NF S 90-351:2013

The manufacturer refers to French standards because the NF S 90-351: 2013 standard there has been the most stringent for healthcare facilities for years. It classifies different application areas into four risk zones, also referring to interior cleaning and the level of air penetration through ceiling tiles.

Example of hospital zone classification according to NF S 90-531:2013.

Silence treatment, confidentiality of medical conversations

Noise irritates, interferes with sleep, raises stress levels, and for years in the context of hospitals there has even been talk of the phenomenon of "ICU psychosis", when patients betray paranoid syndromes. The sound around is also not indifferent to the work of doctors or medical staff - the higher the noise level, the lower the productivity and focus. Friendly acoustics are therefore no less important to patients' recovery than proper medical treatment, and staff are more comfortable on duty in caring for patients.

The worst acoustically are operating rooms and ICU wards, where the screeching and operation of equipment raises noise levels to as much as 100 dB

Hospital conversations (which are often confidential) cause less annoyance than noisy medical equipment, but here, in turn, good acoustic solutions guard against sounds penetrating between rooms. Some versions of ceiling panels from the HYGENA line, MEDIGUARD or Metal BIOGUARD panels have high levels of sound insulation even above 40 dB.

New hospitals are increasingly willing to move away from classic white, also introducing color accents or decorations to the interiors as on the walls of the Children's Clinical Hospital of the Warsaw University of Medical Sciences.

Ceiling solutions from Knauf boast another important aspect - ecology.

The worst acoustically are operating rooms and ICU wards, where the screeching and operation of equipment raises noise levels to as much as 100 dB.

The panels meet the standards of environmental certification standards for buildings, including the American LEED (US) system, the British BREEAM or the DGNB system, which is popular in Germany, but also increasingly in Poland

- reports Wojciech Krzyżowski of Knauf Ceiling Solutions.

University Hospital in Bydgoszcz

A criterion that is not only important environmentally, but also increasingly important financially - in an era of increasing importance of ESG reporting in banking corporations, hospitals equipped with materials that comply with ESG policies can count on a more positive assessment when applying for financing or loans.