An experimental model to measure the ability of headphones with active noise control to reduce patient’s exposure to noise in an intensive care unit
Abstract Background Defining the association between excessive noise in intensive care units, sleep disturbance and morbidity, including delirium, is confounded by the difficulty of implementing successful strategies to reduce patient’s exposure to noise. Active noise control devices may prove to be...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2017-10-01
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| Series: | Intensive Care Medicine Experimental |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40635-017-0162-1 |
| _version_ | 1819176942963785728 |
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| author | Stuart Gallacher Doyo Enki Sian Stevens Mark J. Bennett |
| author_facet | Stuart Gallacher Doyo Enki Sian Stevens Mark J. Bennett |
| author_sort | Stuart Gallacher |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Defining the association between excessive noise in intensive care units, sleep disturbance and morbidity, including delirium, is confounded by the difficulty of implementing successful strategies to reduce patient’s exposure to noise. Active noise control devices may prove to be useful adjuncts but there is currently little to quantify their ability to reduce noise in this complex environment. Methods Sound meters were embedded in the auditory meatus of three polystyrene model heads with no headphones (control), with headphones alone and with headphones using active noise control and placed in patient bays in a cardiac ICU. Ten days of recording sound levels at a frequency of 1 Hz were performed, and the noise levels in each group were compared using repeated measures MANOVA and subsequent pairwise testing. Results Multivariate testing demonstrated that there is a significant difference in the mean noise exposure levels between the three groups (p < 0.001). Subsequent pairwise testing between the three groups shows that the reduction in noise is greatest with headphones and active noise control. The mean reduction in noise exposure between the control and this group over 24 h is 6.8 (0.66) dB. The use of active noise control was also associated with a reduction in the exposure to high-intensity sound events over the course of the day. Conclusions The use of active noise cancellation, as delivered by noise-cancelling headphones, is associated with a significant reduction in noise exposure in our model of noise exposure in a cardiac ICU. This is the first study to look at the potential effectiveness of active noise control in adult patients in an intensive care environment and shows that active noise control is a candidate technology to reduce noise exposure levels the patients experience during stays on intensive care. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T21:18:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0e3ffaa5f8304b62aeac54233e5b1c8c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2197-425X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T21:18:47Z |
| publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Intensive Care Medicine Experimental |
| spelling | doaj.art-0e3ffaa5f8304b62aeac54233e5b1c8c2022-12-21T18:12:15ZengSpringerOpenIntensive Care Medicine Experimental2197-425X2017-10-01511810.1186/s40635-017-0162-1An experimental model to measure the ability of headphones with active noise control to reduce patient’s exposure to noise in an intensive care unitStuart Gallacher0Doyo Enki1Sian Stevens2Mark J. Bennett3Department of Intensive Care, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth Hospitals NHS TrustMedical Statistics Group, Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and DentistryDepartment of Intensive Care, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation TrustCardiac Intensive Care Unit, Level 6, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth Hospitals NHS TrustAbstract Background Defining the association between excessive noise in intensive care units, sleep disturbance and morbidity, including delirium, is confounded by the difficulty of implementing successful strategies to reduce patient’s exposure to noise. Active noise control devices may prove to be useful adjuncts but there is currently little to quantify their ability to reduce noise in this complex environment. Methods Sound meters were embedded in the auditory meatus of three polystyrene model heads with no headphones (control), with headphones alone and with headphones using active noise control and placed in patient bays in a cardiac ICU. Ten days of recording sound levels at a frequency of 1 Hz were performed, and the noise levels in each group were compared using repeated measures MANOVA and subsequent pairwise testing. Results Multivariate testing demonstrated that there is a significant difference in the mean noise exposure levels between the three groups (p < 0.001). Subsequent pairwise testing between the three groups shows that the reduction in noise is greatest with headphones and active noise control. The mean reduction in noise exposure between the control and this group over 24 h is 6.8 (0.66) dB. The use of active noise control was also associated with a reduction in the exposure to high-intensity sound events over the course of the day. Conclusions The use of active noise cancellation, as delivered by noise-cancelling headphones, is associated with a significant reduction in noise exposure in our model of noise exposure in a cardiac ICU. This is the first study to look at the potential effectiveness of active noise control in adult patients in an intensive care environment and shows that active noise control is a candidate technology to reduce noise exposure levels the patients experience during stays on intensive care.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40635-017-0162-1NoiseActive noise control |
| spellingShingle | Stuart Gallacher Doyo Enki Sian Stevens Mark J. Bennett An experimental model to measure the ability of headphones with active noise control to reduce patient’s exposure to noise in an intensive care unit Intensive Care Medicine Experimental Noise Active noise control |
| title | An experimental model to measure the ability of headphones with active noise control to reduce patient’s exposure to noise in an intensive care unit |
| title_full | An experimental model to measure the ability of headphones with active noise control to reduce patient’s exposure to noise in an intensive care unit |
| title_fullStr | An experimental model to measure the ability of headphones with active noise control to reduce patient’s exposure to noise in an intensive care unit |
| title_full_unstemmed | An experimental model to measure the ability of headphones with active noise control to reduce patient’s exposure to noise in an intensive care unit |
| title_short | An experimental model to measure the ability of headphones with active noise control to reduce patient’s exposure to noise in an intensive care unit |
| title_sort | experimental model to measure the ability of headphones with active noise control to reduce patient s exposure to noise in an intensive care unit |
| topic | Noise Active noise control |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40635-017-0162-1 |
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