NOISE IN HOSPITALS LOCATED NEAR FREEWAYS: MAIN REPORT & SUB-REPORT

THE RESULTS OF THE NOISE MEASUREMENTS SHOWED THAT: (1) THE AVERAGE PERCEIVED NOISE LEVELS DUE TO TRAFFIC IN TYPICAL PATIENT'S ROOMS VARIED FROM ABOUT 60 PNDB (WINDOWS CLOSED) TO ALMOST 80 PNDB (WINDOWS OPEN), (2) THE LEVELS MEASURED IN THE CORRIDORS DID NOT VARY AS MUCH AS THE LEVELS MEASURED IN THE ROOMS RANGING FROM AVERAGES OF 67 TO 74 PNDB. THE QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES, CORRELATED WITH THE NOISE MEASUREMENTS, SHOWED THAT: (1) THE PATIENTS WERE NOT PARTICULARLY DISTURBED BY TRAFFIC NOISE LEVELS BELOW 65 PNDB BUT WERE CONSIDERABLY DISTURBED BY TRAFFIC NOISE LEVELS ABOVE ABOUT 72PNDB, (2) THE INTERFERENCE BY TRAFFIC NOISE WITH THE DUTIES OF DOCTORS AND NURSES WAS NOT CONSIDERED SEVERE IN EVEN THE NOISIEST HOSPITAL, AND THE INTERFERING EFFECTS OF OTHER NOISE SOURCES WITHIN THE HOSPITAL APPEARED TO BE AT LEAST AS GREAT, IF NOT GREATER, (3) THE TOTAL HOSPITAL NOISE ENVIRONMENT, REGARDLESS OF TRAFFIC NOISE CONTENT, HAD LITTLE BEARING ON THE RECOVERY RATE OF PATIENTS, AND VIRTUALLY NO BEARING ON A DOCTOR'S DECISION AS TO WHERE HE WILL HOSPITALIZE HIS PATIENTS. THE ECONOMIC INVESTIGATION SHOWED THAT: (1) THE NOISE FROM FREEWAYS LOCATED ADJACENT TO HOSPITALS HAS NOT HAD A DETRIMENTAL EFFECT ON OCCUPANCY RATES, INCOME, OR EXPENSES OF HOSPITAL OPERATION, (2) FREEWAYS HAVE GENERALLY PROVED BENEFICIAL TO HOSPITALS, IN THAT LAND VALUES INCREASED, NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE BEEN UPGRADED, HOSPITAL RECOGNITION HAS INCREASED (DUE TO VISIBILITY FROM THE FREEWAY), AND TRANSPORTATION TO AND FROM THE HOSPITAL HAS BEEN FACILITATED. /BPR/

• Corporate Authors:

  Towne, Robin M. & Associates Inc.

  /
  ,   United States 

  Washington State Department of Highways

  Olympia, WA  United States 

  Bureau of Public Roads /US

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Steel, D C
• Publication Date: 1968

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economics; Freeways; Hospitals; Land values; Measurement; Questionnaires; Social values; Traffic noise
• Old TRIS Terms: Community values
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222562
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Bureau of Public Roads /US
• Report/Paper Numbers: Hpr-unknown
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Apr 2 1994 12:00AM