Noise in Incubators: Concern to the Neonatal Team

摘要

At neonatal units, infants are exposed to countless environmental noise sources. The harmful effects of environmental noise and the possibility of hearing damage in premature and high-risk infants, which affect their development process and quality of life, justify the importance of measuring and reducing noise levels at neonatal units. In this sense, noise inside the incubator is particularly relevant, since this is a basic equipment in neonatal caregiving, which may produce intense noise as a result of the engine and during incubator handling. Aim: Quantify continuous and impact noise levels in incubators at neonatal intensive and intermediary care units of a school hospital in the interior of Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Design/methods: A structured observational study was carried out with 23 incubators, which were divided into 4 groups according to their model. Measurements were collected without (continuous noise) and with (impact noise) incubator handling, in the careful and careless modes. Findings: The continuous noise level ranged from 44.0 to 57.0 dB/A. The highest SPL were recorded in group B, followed by groups A, D and C. An important increase in these levels occurred when the incubator alarm went off. All handling situations caused intense noise levels, ranging from 66.7 to 96.8dB/A in the careful mode and from 73.2 to 100.6 dB/A for careless handling. Conclusion: Even without a specific standard for impact noise levels inside the incubator, it can be affirmed that the noise produced in different handling situations are really intense, even in those groups with lower SPL. In combination with shorter usage time, careful handling is efficient to reduce the noise produced while handling incubators. This reveals the importance of permanent education for the neonatal team, dealing with ambient noise and incubator handling and control.