Impact of Environmental Noise on Inpatient Outcomes: A Scoping Review

A comprehensive understanding of the impact of environmental noise on patient outcomes is crucial for nurses who play key roles in sound environment adjustments. However, no review has comprehensively explored these effects in hospitalized patients.

To synthesize evidence on the impact of noise on inpatient outcomes, providing a comprehensive view.

This scoping review was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Brigs Institute methodology for scoping reviews and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. We searched PubMed, CINAHL Plus, and the Cochrane Library for articles published in January 2024.

We identified 28 eligible articles. In the 28 articles, the most common patient outcome was sleep, followed by psychological state, physiological state, satisfaction and well-being, delirium, pain, and unplanned readmission. Further, 21 (75.0%) articles included only patients in intensive care units (ICUs), 25 (89.3%) used cross-sectional analysis, and only 13 (46.4%) performed multivariable analysis adjusted for confounding factors. In the 13 articles that used multivariable analysis, noise was associated with decreased sleep quantity and quality in both ICU and ward patients, increased delirium risk in ICU patients, increased risk of readmission within 30 and 90 days after hospital discharge, increased heart and respiratory rates in ICU patients, and increased anxiety in ICU patients.

Nurses need to pay more attention to the negative impact of noise on inpatient outcomes. The findings of this study would promote the comprehensive understanding of nurses on noise impact on inpatient outcomes and their commitment to noise reduction in hospital environments.