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Contribution of sound in the Intensive Care Unit environment to sleep disruption

Horsten, S. (2017) Contribution of sound in the Intensive Care Unit environment to sleep disruption.

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Abstract:Introduction: We know from the literature that ICU patients are exposed to several sleep disruptive factors. This may have detrimental effects on patient cognition and behaviour. Because so many factors play a role, studying the primary effects of the busy ICU environment is complicated. Methods: 37 ICU patients from the ICU at the UMCG were included in a study into the relation between sleep and ICU sound. We also designed and conducted an experiment in which healthy volunteers slept in the ICU in order to study the relative contribution of the ICU environment on sleep. Results: In ICU patients we found fragmented and disturbed sleeping patterns and high noise levels with frequent spikes. In the healthy subjects we found that 2 out of 3 showed reduced sleep quality under ICU conditions compared to at home. Conclusion: Noise levels in the ICU are high and sleeping patterns are disturbed. However, there are still a lot of uncertainties about the contribution of the ICU environment to sleep disruption. Because of the highly complex nature of acoustics and its mechanisms to influence sleep it is not possible at this moment to indicate which direction to take in reducing noise in the ICU.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:TNW: Science and Technology
Subject:44 medicine
Programme:Technical Medicine MSc (60033)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/72127
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