Pandemonium in the Modern Hospital

Abstract

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Acoustical Society of America in June 1954, Dean Vern Knudsen of the University of California at Los Angeles observed that the maximal noise levels of daily living had increased about 1 dB per year over the previous 25 years. He wondered what the future would bring¹. Although he was referring to high-decibel noises like those encountered in transportation, construction, and military activities, a similar situation prevails in the modern hospital, where the previously serene milieu is gradually being debased by a sonic assault on the ears and psyche. The hospital . . .