Study Of Sound Environment In Waiting Areas In General Hospitals

In the recent years, A lot of research data showed that there are many problemsof sound environment in morden hospitals including excessive noise and others, butthe solutions are inadequte. The hospital building is a space complex with manyfunctions where the waiting area provides a place personnel gathers and staying fora long time. The measured data of sound environment took by some researchersshowed that the average of SPL in the waiting areas has exceeded other parts in theoutpatient departments in a day in the clinics of a general hospital. In consideringthe representation and urgency, the paper takes the sound environment in waitingareas in general hospitals as the research object to reveal the internal relationsamong sound, environment and hearer, discovering the laws of changes anddevelopments, and revloving the main contradictions in sound environment in thewaiting areas so as to provide technique support for achieving the people-orienteddesign of hospital construction.The waiting area in morden large general hospitals is the research object of thepaper. First, the scale study on satisfaction evaluation of sound environment inwaiting areas is made. The scale construction based on architectural acoustics,sociology and medicine. There are two types in the scale for medical staff andpatients respectively. The pre-scale design, reliability and validity test and formingof the scale are also conducted gradually. At the same time, the scale has become anew and reliable measurement for the subjective evaluating study of soundenvironment in waiting areas.Users are the research subject of sound environment in waiting areas. The lawsof sources, sound field and sound preference evaluated by medical staff and patientsare discovered in the paper. The research also demonstrates that the relationsbetween other environmental factors, user’s social, behaviour and subjective factorsand sound environment.As a bridge between the users and the sound, the space environment of waitingareas is the research carrier. Research finds that the main types of sources,composition features, and the rules of SPL with the frequency, time and types ofwaiting areas so as to lay the foundations for the design strategies.To master the features of sound environment in waiting areas during designperiod, The design strategies are put forward from the space layout, the design ofsound absorption and eletronic acoustic system. The study offers the methodsupport for building healthy sound environment in waiting areas.The principal problems facing the hospitals are realizing human nature design of the hospital building and providing healthy and safe medical environment. Theresearch results of the project will surely offer a new method and scientific guidancefor the design and improving of sound environment in waiting areas.