Environment in pediatric wards: light, sound, and temperature
Lia Oliveira1, Cláudia Gomes1, Leonor Bacelar Nicolau2
1Department of Pediatrics, Santa Maria Hospital, Academic Medical Centre of Lisbon, Avenida Professor Egas Moniz, 1649-035 Lisbon, Portugal.
Insights
Hospital environmental factors like noise and temperature negatively impact pediatric patient sleep quality. These conditions, exceeding recommended levels, may hinder recovery and require further investigation for improved patient care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric healthcare
- Environmental health
- Sleep medicine
Background:
- The relationship between sleep and disease is critical, especially during hospitalization.
- Hospital environments can significantly influence patient sleep and recovery.
- Understanding environmental factors in pediatric wards is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe environmental factors (light, sound, temperature) in pediatric wards.
- To assess if these factors align with recommended standards.
- To characterize sleep quality in hospitalized children.
Main Methods:
- Measured light, sound, and temperature in five pediatric wards.
- Compared measurements against recommended standards (light ≤100 Lux, sound ≤45 dB, temperature 20-24°C).
- Assessed children's sleep quality via caregiver questionnaires.
Main Results:
- Light levels were acceptable 86% of the time.
- Sound levels exceeded recommendations (above 45 dB) 85% of the time.
- Temperatures were above 24°C for 78% of the time.
- Caregivers reported worse sleep quality and more restlessness in the hospital.
- Noise was a primary cause for awakenings.
Conclusions:
- Hospital sound and temperature levels frequently exceeded recommendations.
- Variations between wards suggest a lack of standardized environmental controls.
- Hospitalization was associated with poorer sleep quality and shorter sleep duration.
- Further research is needed on environmental impacts on pediatric recovery.
Unlabelled:
The mutual relationship between sleep and disease is well known, becoming more relevant whenever the disease leads to hospitalization. We intend to describe patterns of environmental factors of some pediatric wards, and to verify if these are in line with those recommended. As a secondary aim, we characterize sleep quality during hospitalization.
Methods:
Five pediatric wards of a tertiary-level hospital were included. Light, sound, and temperature were measured and assessed through descriptive statistics. The following recommended values were considered: maximum light 100 Lux, maximum sound 45 dB, and optimal temperature 20-24 °C. A questionnaire was prepared to assess children's sleep, and it was completed by a caregiver.
Results:
Light values were within the desirable limits for 86% of evaluated time. In all wards, the intensity of sound was much higher than desirable, being above 45 dB during 85% of evaluated time. The temperature was above 24 °C during 78% of total time. Based on 34 answered questionnaires (out of 50 distributed), almost half of the respondents believe that sleep quality and restlessness are worse at the hospital. Most children slept for a longer time at home. Eighteen children awoke more times at the hospital, and those awakenings were mostly attributed to noise.
Conclusions:
The sound and temperature were higher than recommended. The different values between these wards may be due to different levels of care, but this shows that there are no standard rules on this matter. A worse quality and shorter duration of sleep at hospital were reported. Comprehensive studies are necessary to evaluate the impact of environmental factors on disease recovery.
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