engleski

The relationship between noise sensitivity and soundscape appraisal of care professionals in their work environment: a case study in Nursing Homes in Flanders, Belgium

Noise sensitivity is known as a stable effect modifier for environmental noise annoyance at home. In this study, we investigated its effect on the appreciation of the soundscape in the work environment by care professionals. For this purpose, in the context of the AcustiCare project, we conducted a large-scale online survey with care professionals working at Nursing Homes in Flanders (Belgium). The questionnaire contained two main parts: (1) a reduced version of the Weinstein’s Noise Sensitivity Scale (WNSS) and (2) a Soundscape protocol, which included the assessment of overall soundscape quality and its dimensions, the perceived dominance of sound sources and the annoyance they induce. Through a k-means cluster analysis, we then used the WNSS scores to create a Noise Sensitivity variable and to sort participants into three groups, corresponding to different “degrees” of noise sensitivity (“quite tolerant of noise”, “moderately sensitive to noise” and “very sensitive to noise”). The relationship between Noise Sensitivity and overall soundscape appraisal was investigated, as well as potential associations between Noise Sensitivity and the staff role. Results showed that no statistically significant differences emerged for soundscape variables, or the perceived dominance of sound sources. However, the “very sensitive to noise” group tended to be more annoyed by human sounds (both vocal and non-vocal), installation sounds and operational sounds. Furthermore, no associations were observed between Noise Sensitivity and the staff role. These results suggest that care professionals who are more sensitive to noise are also potentially more likely to be psychologically distressed in their work environment, so their acoustic comfort should be carefully taken into account at a management level.

Soundscape appraisal ; nursing homes ; case study

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