ICU patients exhibit disturbed sleeping patterns, often attributed to environmental noise, although the relative contribution of noise compared to other potentially disrupting factors is often debated. We therefore systematically reviewed studies of the effects of ICU noise on the quality of sleep to determine to what extent noise explains the observed sleep disruption, using the Cochrane Collaboration method for non-randomized studies. Searches in Scopus, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were conducted until May 2017. Twenty papers from 18 studies assessing sleep of adult patients and healthy volunteers in the ICU environment, whilst recording sound levels, were included and independently reviewed by two reviewers.

Read More