The Effects of Hospital Noise and Noise Sensitivity on Patient`s Comfort, Annoyance, and Intention to Leave

<ns7:p> Introduction Hospitals are intended to serve as healing environments; however, they are frequently characterized by high levels of environmental noise pollution that can contradict their therapeutic purpose. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the complex relationships among hospital noise pollution, individual noise sensitivity, and acoustic comfort, noise annoyance, and intention to leave the hospital. Methods This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in 2024 at a public hospital in Saveh, Iran. A stratified random sampling method with proportional allocation was used to select a sample of 226 hospitalized adult patients. Objective day-evening-night noise levels (L <ns7:sub>den</ns7:sub> ) were measured over 24 hours, while subjective data on noise sensitivity, acoustic comfort, noise annoyance, and intention to leave the hospital were collected using standardized questionnaires. Bayesian Network (BN) modeling, a probabilistic graphical approach for examining complex dependencies, was applied in combination with delta-p sensitivity analysis to quantify the direct and joint effects of noise exposure and noise sensitivity on patient outcomes. Continuous variables were categorized using percentile cut-offs: low (<P25), moderate (P25–P75), and high (>P75). Results The mean L <ns7:sub>den</ns7:sub> in the studied hospital was found to be 57.95 dB (±6.61). The Bayesian Network analysis revealed that under conditions of high level L <ns7:sub>den</ns7:sub> , the probability of high annoyance, low acoustic comfort and high intention to leave increased by 12.4%, 6.3% and 5%, respectively. Under conditions of high-Level Sensitivity, the probability of these variables increased by 9.1%, 6.2% and 4.7%, respectively. While these two variables are at high level, the most substantial positive variations occurred in high annoyance, low acoustic comfort and high intention to leave, with increases of 26.1%, 13.1% and 10.6%. Conclusion Noise levels in the hospital exceed international standards, negatively affecting acoustic comfort, increasing annoyance, and influencing individuals’ intent to leave. Personal noise sensitivity further intensifies these effects. </ns7:p>