Evaluation of the hospital and its environment within the scope of audio landscape: A public hospital example

Objective: In the study, it was aimed to evaluate the acoustic environment of the hospital and the environment within the scope of the soundscape approach. Method: The study was carried out in Antalya Kepez State Hospital, which is a secondary level public hospital. The measurements of the indoor and outdoor sounds of the hospital were made using two "SVANTEK SV971" model noise measuring devices. The environmental noise measurements made in the study were carried out in a way to measure and cover the characteristic of the area measured according to the ISO 1996/1 standard. The Turkish adaptation of the ISO/TS 12913–2:2018 and ISO/TS 12913/3:2019 scales by Dökmeci Yörükoğlu et al. (2023) was used as data collection tool. Sound measurements and survey studies were carried out simultaneously. Results: When the noise sources and measurement site results were evaluated, it was determined that the highest perceived noise source was traffic noise outside the hospital (21.2%) and human voice inside the hospital (35.1%). While the Laeq value was determined as 63.61 dbA in the measurements performed in the hospital, this value was found to be 63.44 dA outside the hospital. No statistically significant relationship was found between the acoustic parameters and the general perception of the sound environment. Despite this, when the perceived emotional quality score averages of the study group depending on the sound source and measurement location were examined, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference between the perceived emotional quality score averages inside and outside the hospital. In the correlation analysis, there is a moderate positive relationship between the general perception of the sound environment and the suitability of the current sound to the hospital. Conclusion: Patients and their relatives described the sound environment in the hospital as moderately compatible with the hospital, although the noise level inside and outside the hospital is above international standards and at a disturbing level. Keywords: soundscape, noise level, hospital