Noise is a critical component on sleep quality. Unlike other sensory perception, such as sight, there are no protective coverings over the ears. While eyelids close to limit perceived light, the ear canals remain open and unchanged throughout the night. That means the only difference between perception of sound between the day and night is your brain’s attention on the sound.
Read: How Sound Studies reduce Noise and Improve Sleep in Healthcare Facilities
There has been widespread research into the short-term and long-term effects of poor sleep, and on the direct impact of noise levels and fluctuations on sleep loss. For instance, the National Institute of Health notes that sleep loss may lead directly to drowsiness, tiredness, and irritability. There is also a strong correlation with epidemiological effects, such cardiovascular disease and stroke, for those that are exposed to loud night-time noise for extended periods.
Acoustic Sleep Studies – Critical Factors
There are several measures that determine how critical sound levels are to disrupting sleep:
- dBA Level: 40 dBA – The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends peak dBA levels in the evening at 40 dBA. Above this level, patients and guests experience significant deleterious effects to their sleeping health.
- Dynamic Range: This is the changing volume of sound over a short-period of time (1 to 5 seconds). A 3 dBA change is noticeable and 6 dBA Clearly Perceptible. For instance, if it is very quiet in your room (35 dBA) and a sudden change creates a sound of 41 dBA, it may rise above the Auditory Arousal Threshold.
- Content: The type of sound is also very important. For instance, a person’s name or their child’s voice may create a much greater response than a car passing by.
For hospitality soundproofing and healthcare acoustics, studying the source of noise, it’s location, amplitude, and duration, is absolutely critical to providing a healthy sleeping environment for the end client. After performing an initial sound study and acoustic assessment, detailed unique sound mitigation options may be proposed and implemented.
Ultimately, providing a combination of adequate STC walls, Sound Masking systems, and appropriate operations constraints, healthy sleep levels may be maintained and enhanced by treating the fluctuating noise levels.
