An investigation of the environmental status in an ICU

2001 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 12671465
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Anesthesiology/Resuscitation studies
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: TAENAKA Nobuyuki Osaka University, Graduate School of Medicine, Associate Professor, 医学系研究科, 助教授 (10127243)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): NISHIMURA Shinnya Osaka University Hospital, Assistant Professor, 医学部・附属病院, 助手 (00263286)
• Project Period (FY): 2000 – 2001
• Keywords: Intensive care unit / environment / temperature / humidity / light intensity / sound level

Research Abstract

We investigated the environmental status in Intensive Care Unit of Osaka University Hospital. We measured temperature, humidity, light intensity and sound level at the bedside of patient rooms in the ICU, Twenty-four patients were investigated for the total of 99 days between April, 2000 and January, 2001. Temperature was 23-25℃ throughout the period. Humidity was 55 % in summer and 35 % in winter. Light intensity in daytime was 500〜2000lx in the room with windows, but 400lx without windows. Sound level was approximately 57dB on the average in daytime and 54dB in the night. In summary, temperature was always adjusted adequately, but it was very dry in winter. Brightness in daytime was very different between the rooms with and without windows and it was very noisy throughout the whole day. We consider the environment may influence the QOL or mental/physiological conditions of patients, and should be controlled adequately even in ICU.