Basic Investigation of the Acoustic Environments in Hospital Waiting Areas

Abstract

In this study, the investigations of the acoustic environments in the waiting areas in hospitals were conducted. The investigations were aimed on clarifying the actual conditions in two waiting areas in two hospitals in Kuala Lumpur. The investigations consist of both noise level measurements and questionnaire surveys, i.e. both physical and psychological aspects. Generally, physical aspects for both hospitals are strongly influenced by noise produced during general activities in waiting areas. Sound pressures data were collected approximately eight hours period in daytime and converted into different levels (LAeq and Leq, max). It was found that the maximum permissible sound level LAeq in all waiting areas measured exceeded the guideline for community noise recommended by World Health Organization (WHO). In psychological aspects, respondents were interviewed in the course of a questionnaires survey dealing with nuisance occasioned by noise at actual conditions. Accumulate measured data is important for the further discussions and developments to overcome the problem. This paper gives a fundamental data for the help of future refinements.