Noise quantification in the intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital

doi:10.5492/wjccm.v15.i2.114240

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World Journal of Critical Care Medicine

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2220-3141

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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

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Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.

World J Crit Care Med. Jun 9, 2026; 15(2): 114240
Published online Jun 9, 2026. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v15.i2.114240

Table 1 Average monthly and overall maximum sound level, L10, L50, L90 (representing sound levels exceeding 10%, 50%, and 90% of the time, respectively), equivalent continuous noise level and sound exposure level

	Lmax	L90	L10	L50	Leq	SEL
December 2024	82.3 ± 4.9	56.5 ± 3.1	67.6 ± 3.2	61.5 ± 3.4	64.8 ± 2.9	97.4 ± 2.9
January 2025	82.1 ± 4.5	55.5 ± 2.6	67.0 ± 2.8	60.6 ± 3.0	64.2 ± 2.6	96.7 ± 2.6
February 2025	82.8 ± 4.0	56.4 ± 2.9	67.9 ± 2.8	61.5 ± 3.2	65.1 ± 2.7	97.7 ± 2.7
March 2025	82.7 ± 4.2	57.1 ± 2.3	67.6 ± 2.8	61.6 ± 2.9	64.9 ± 2.7	97.5 ± 2.7
December 2024 - March 2025	82.5 ± 4.4	56.4 ± 2.8	67.5 ± 2.9	61.3 ± 3.2	64.8 ± 2.8	97.7 ± 2.8

L10, L50, L90: Representing sound levels exceeding 10%, 50%, and 90% of the time, respectively; LEQ: Equivalent continuous noise level; Lmax: Maximum sound level; SEL: Sound exposure level.

Full Size Table

Table 2 Sound metrics during activity hours

	Lmax	L90	L10	L50	Leq	SEL
Nurses handover (8:00-9:00 hours)	83.9 ± 4.1	59.4 ± 2.3	70.0 ± 2.0	64.7 ± 2.1	67.3 ± 1.9	99.8 ± 1.9
Nurses handover (13:30-14:30 hours)	83.7 ± 3.8	58.1 ± 2.1	69.1 ± 1.8	63.4 ± 2.3	66.3 ± 1.9	98.8 ± 1.9
Nurses handover (20:00-21:00 hours)	83.2 ± 3.7	58.5 ± 2.2	69.7 ± 1.7	64.1 ± 2.0	66.8 ± 1.7	99.4 ± 1.7
Visiting time (12:30-13:00 hours)	83.0 ± 4.4	58.6 ± 1.8	69.5 ± 1.9	64.1 ± 2.1	66.7 ± 2.0	99.2 ± 2.0
Visiting time (17:00-17:30 hours)	83.0 ± 4.0	57.6 ± 2.2	68.6 ± 2.0	62.9 ± 2.3	65.8 ± 2.0	98.4 ± 2.0
Night time avg (22:00-6:00 hours)	81.1 ± 4.8	54.8 ± 2.7	65.9 ± 3.2	59.4 ± 3.0	63.1 ± 3.0	95.7 ± 3.0
Night time (1:00-2:00 hours)	79.6 ± 4.6	54.0 ± 2.8	64.5 ± 3.5	58.2 ± 3.0	61.8 ± 2.8	94.3 ± 2.8
Night time (2:00-3:00 hours)	79.9 ± 4.7	54.1 ± 2.7	64.8 ± 3.5	58.3 ± 2.9	62.1 ± 2.8	94.6 ± 2.8
Twilight (4:00-6:00 hours)	83.7 ± 4.3	55.9 ± 2.5	67.7 ± 2.5	60.9 ± 2.6	65.1 ± 2.4	97.6 ± 2.4

L10, L50, L90: Representing sound levels exceeding 10%, 50%, and 90% of the time, respectively; LEQ: Equivalent continuous noise level; Lmax: Maximum sound level; SEL: Sound exposure level.

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Table 3 Maximum sound level recordings above 75 dB and 85 dB during nurses’ handover, visiting, night time and twilight, n (%)

	Number of recordings	Events exceeding 75 dB	Events exceeding 85 dB
Nurses’ handover (morning, afternoon, night)	679	679 (100)	218 (32)
Visiting (morning and evening)	114	113 (99)	38 (33)
Night time (22:00-6:00 hours)	1134	1006 (89)	143 (13)
Twilight (4:00-6:00 hours)	450	445 (99)	155 (34)

Full Size Table

Citation: Gupta R, Chadha AS, Lakra H, Rehan R, Kalra R, Ray S. Noise quantification in the intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital. World J Crit Care Med 2026; 15(2): 114240
URL: https://www.wjgnet.com/2220-3141/full/v15/i2/114240.htm
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.5492/wjccm.v15.i2.114240

Gupta R, Chadha AS, Lakra H, Rehan R, Kalra R, Ray S. Noise quantification in the intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital. World J Crit Care Med 2026; 15(2): 114240 [DOI: 10.5492/wjccm.v15.i2.114240]

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