The Effectiveness of Noise Reduction Interventions in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Loud noise in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) has negative effects on the health and wellness of hospitalized preterm infants. Various technologies for the care of preterm infants, extensive therapeutic interventions, and communication between staff are among the causes of loud noise in these wards. This review article aims to evaluate the effectiveness of noise reduction interventions in NICUs.

A literature search was conducted 2012-2020 in Medline, Embase, CINAHL, SID IranDoc, and Magiran databases. The search words were preterm infant, noise, and neonatal intensive care unit. Interventional and quasi-experimental papers were included in this review. A total of 26 articles were analyzed regarding the noise levels, effects of noise enhancement, and noise reduction interventions. The exclusion criteria were duplicate texts, non-English/Persian articles, editorials, letters, patents, errata, meeting abstracts, and conference papers. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses methodology was followed to perform the review.

The results showed that the sound levels in the NICUs were higher than those mentioned by the WHO standard. The study articles reported personnel training as an effective intervention in noise reduction. But even with the proper training, there were very few changes in the sound levels. The noise level had been reduced to 3-4 dB, and even increased in some cases due to the impossibility of changing the structure of the NICU and changing the existing devices.

Education is the most effective way to reduce noise. To make noise reduction possible, personnel training is essential as the first step. Sound levels must be measured to control the volume. NICUs should be designed with separate beds and acoustic incubators should be used.