Improved tactile speech perception and noise robustness using audio-to-tactile sensory substitution with amplitude envelope expansion.

Recent advances in haptic technology could allow haptic hearing aids, which convert audio to tactile stimulation, to become viable for supporting people with hearing loss. A tactile vocoder strategy for audio-to-tactile conversion, which exploits these advances, has recently shown significant promise. In this strategy, the amplitude envelope is extracted from several audio frequency bands and used to modulate the amplitude of a set of vibro-tactile tones. The vocoder strategy allows good consonant discrimination, but vowel discrimination is poor and the strategy is susceptible to background noise. In the current study, we assessed whether multi-band amplitude envelope expansion can effectively enhance critical vowel features, such as formants, and improve speech extraction from noise. In 32 participants with normal touch perception, tactile-only phoneme discrimination with and without envelope expansion was assessed both in quiet and in background noise. Envelope expansion improved performance in quiet by 10.3% for vowels and by 5.9% for consonants. In noise, envelope expansion improved overall phoneme discrimination by 9.6%, with no difference in benefit between consonants and vowels. The tactile vocoder with envelope expansion can be deployed in real-time on a compact device and could substantially improve clinical outcomes for a new generation of haptic hearing aids.

Attenuation and distortion components of age-related hearing loss: Contributions to recognizing temporal-envelope filtered speech in modulated noise.

Older adults with hearing loss may experience difficulty recognizing speech in noise due to factors related to attenuation (e.g., reduced audibility and sensation levels, SLs) and distortion (e.g., reduced temporal fine structure, TFS, processing). Furthermore, speech recognition may improve when the amplitude modulation spectrum of the speech and masker are non-overlapping. The current study investigated this by filtering the amplitude modulation spectrum into different modulation rates for speech and speech-modulated noise. The modulation depth of the noise was manipulated to vary the SL of speech glimpses. Younger adults with normal hearing and older adults with normal or impaired hearing listened to natural speech or speech vocoded to degrade TFS cues. Control groups of younger adults were tested on all conditions with spectrally shaped speech and threshold matching noise, which reduced audibility to match that of the older hearing-impaired group. All groups benefitted from increased masker modulation depth and preservation of syllabic-rate speech modulations. Older adults with hearing loss had reduced speech recognition across all conditions. This was explained by factors related to attenuation, due to reduced SLs, and distortion, due to reduced TFS processing, which resulted in poorer auditory processing of speech cues during the dips of the masker.

Assessment of Noise Levels and Perceptions of Its Health Impact at Kejetia Market in Ghana.

Noise pollution in developing countries such as Nigeria and Ghana is causing adverse effects on citizens, including hearing impairment, sleep disturbances, adverse social behavior, and cardiovascular diseases. This study assessed noise levels at the Kejetia Market in Ghana and the perceptions of health impact. A sound level meter (JD-801A) was used to measure the noise levels at the various points in the market. Results showed that noise exposure levels were not within Ghana Environmental Protection Agency standards 2008, with sources including loud music, advertisements, human congestion, and vehicles. Respondents perceived noise pollution sources as annoyance, mental stress, sleep disturbances, lack of concentration, hearing, and cardiovascular effects. The study suggests that stakeholders and authorities should educate the public on the health effects of noise pollution.

Awareness, attitudes and perceptions of students towards leisure noise in Durban, South Africa.

BACKGROUND:  Young adults are exposed to high noise levels in leisure venues, which increases their risk of hearing loss, and can affect their quality of life. OBJECTIVES:  The aim of this study was to describe the young adults' awareness, attitudes and perceptions towards leisure noise at a university in South Africa. METHOD:  A descriptive cross-sectional study design with quantitative methods of data was considered for this study. Students from first to fourth years in the Education Department of a local university in Durban, South Africa, who were aged 18 years old - 25 years old were invited to participate in an online survey. RESULTS:  Of the 462 participants, most had a general awareness on noise and hearing loss but lacked knowledge on the negative effect of loud noise, with 95.2% using personal listening devices, followed by visiting restaurants and gyms, and 48.3% being unsure if noise can damage hearing permanently. They were unaware of methods to reduce their exposure to noise. A significant relationship between awareness of noise and attitudes (p = 0.029) indicated that the higher the level of awareness regarding leisure noise, the better their attitude and behaviour, thus the lower the risk of hearing loss. CONCLUSION:  The results highlight the need for implementing the World Health Organization (WHO) noise regulations and providing education for this age group to prevent irreversible hearing loss through exposure to leisure noise.Contribution: A national study is recommended to increase research evidence.

A simple psychophysical procedure separates representational and noise components in impairments of speech prosody perception after right-hemisphere stroke.

After a right hemisphere stroke, more than half of the patients are impaired in their capacity to produce or comprehend speech prosody. Yet, and despite its social-cognitive consequences for patients, aprosodia following stroke has received scant attention. In this report, we introduce a novel, simple psychophysical procedure which, by combining systematic digital manipulations of speech stimuli and reverse-correlation analysis, allows estimating the internal sensory representations that subtend how individual patients perceive speech prosody, and the level of internal noise that govern behavioral variability in how patients apply these representations. Tested on a sample of N = 22 right-hemisphere stroke survivors and N = 21 age-matched controls, the representation + noise model provides a promising alternative to the clinical gold standard for evaluating aprosodia (MEC): both parameters strongly associate with receptive, and not expressive, aprosodia measured by MEC within the patient group; they have better sensitivity than MEC for separating high-functioning patients from controls; and have good specificity with respect to non-prosody-related impairments of auditory attention and processing. Taken together, individual differences in either internal representation, internal noise, or both, paint a potent portrait of the variety of sensory/cognitive mechanisms that can explain impairments of prosody processing after stroke.

Water, Soil, Noise, and Light Pollution: JACC Focus Seminar, Part 2.

Various forms of pollution carry a substantial burden with respect to increasing the risk of causing and exacerbating noncommunicable diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. The first part of this 2-part series on pollution and cardiovascular disease provided an overview of the impact of global warming and air pollution. This second paper provides an overview of the impact of water, soil, noise, and light pollution on the cardiovascular system. This review discusses the biological mechanisms underlying these effects and potential environmental biometrics of exposure. What is clear from both these pollution papers is that significant efforts and redoubled urgency are needed to reduce the sources of pollution in our environment, to incorporate environmental risk factors into medical education, to provide resources for research, and, ultimately, to protect those who are particularly vulnerable and susceptible.

A Comprehensive Review of Auditory and Non-Auditory Effects of Noise on Human Health.

OBJECTIVE: Excessive noise is unpleasant and induces several physiological and psychological effects. Noise pollution is a potential threat to humans, particularly those continuously exposed for extended periods throughout the day over many years. This review aims to examine the various auditory and non-auditory outcomes associated with prolonged exposure to noise pollution. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The review utilized a combination of relevant keywords to search the electronic databases. After screening based on the applied selection criteria for title, abstract, and full text, 44 articles were finally selected for critical review. RESULTS: We identified and analyzed research findings related to noise-induced hearing loss, tinnitus, and sleep disturbances along with non-auditory issues such as annoyance, cognitive impairments, and mental stress associated with cardiovascular disorders. Furthermore, the existing studies were compared and collated to highlight the unique challenges and significance of noise pollution as a distinctive environmental concern and to explore the ongoing efforts in its research and prevention, including the early detection and potential reversal of noise-induced hearing loss. CONCLUSION: The fundamental health consequences of noise pollution underscore the need for extensive research encompassing emerging noise sources and technologies to establish a health management system tailored to address noise-related health concerns and reduce noise exposure risk among populations. Finally, further research is warranted to ensure improved measurement of noise exposure and related health outcomes, especially in the context of occupational noise.

Depressive symptoms of people living in areas with high exposure to environmental noise: a multilevel analysis.

Exposure and damage caused by noise have been reported in many countries around the world. However, few nationwide studies explored the association of residential environmental noise with depressive symptoms, this study aims to examine this association. The Korean Community Health Survey at the individual-level and the Korean Environmental Noise Measurement Database at the regional-level were used. A total of 30,630 individuals were eligible for the analysis. Multilevel model framework was applied to account for the clustered structure of the regional-level data in which individual-level data containing demographic characteristics and health information were nested. As a result of the analysis, Individuals living in the highest environmental noise area had a 1.55 times higher likelihood of experiencing depressive symptoms than those living in the lowest environmental noise area (95% CI, 1.04-2.31). After stratified analysis according to depressive symptom severity, individuals residing in areas with the highest environmental noise exposure had significantly higher odds of mild (aOR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.02-2.07) and moderate symptoms (aOR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.00-2.91). In conclusion, the higher the residential environmental noise, the higher the possibility of mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest the need for continued attention to and management of noise pollution, which has the potential to adversely affect individual's mental health.

Neural Mechanisms of Nonauditory Effects of Noise Exposure on Special Populations.

Due to the abnormal structure and function of brain neural networks in special populations, such as children, elderly individuals, and individuals with mental disorders, noise exposure is more likely to have negative psychological and cognitive nonauditory effects on these individuals. There are unique and complex neural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. For individuals with mental disorders, there are anomalies such as structural atrophy and decreased functional activation in brain regions involved in emotion and cognitive processing, such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Noise exposure can worsen these abnormalities in relevant brain regions, further damaging neural plasticity and disrupting normal connections and the transmission of information between the PFC and other brain areas by causing neurotransmitter imbalances. In the case of children, in a noisy environment, brain regions such as the left inferior frontal gyrus and PFC, which are involved in growth and development, are more susceptible to structural and functional changes, leading to neurodegenerative alterations. Furthermore, noise exposure can interrupt auditory processing neural pathways or impair inhibitory functions, thus hindering children's ability to map sound to meaning in neural processes. For elderly people, age-related shrinkage of brain regions such as the PFC, as well as deficiencies in hormone, neurotransmitter, and nutrient levels, weakens their ability to cope with noise. Currently, it is feasible to propose and apply coping strategies to improve the nonauditory effects of noise exposure on special populations based on the plasticity of the human brain.

Deep learning restores speech intelligibility in multi-talker interference for cochlear implant users.

Cochlear implants (CIs) do not offer the same level of effectiveness in noisy environments as in quiet settings. Current single-microphone noise reduction algorithms in hearing aids and CIs only remove predictable, stationary noise, and are ineffective against realistic, non-stationary noise such as multi-talker interference. Recent developments in deep neural network (DNN) algorithms have achieved noteworthy performance in speech enhancement and separation, especially in removing speech noise. However, more work is needed to investigate the potential of DNN algorithms in removing speech noise when tested with listeners fitted with CIs. Here, we implemented two DNN algorithms that are well suited for applications in speech audio processing: (1) recurrent neural network (RNN) and (2) SepFormer. The algorithms were trained with a customized dataset ( ∼ 30 h), and then tested with thirteen CI listeners. Both RNN and SepFormer algorithms significantly improved CI listener's speech intelligibility in noise without compromising the perceived quality of speech overall. These algorithms not only increased the intelligibility in stationary non-speech noise, but also introduced a substantial improvement in non-stationary noise, where conventional signal processing strategies fall short with little benefits. These results show the promise of using DNN algorithms as a solution for listening challenges in multi-talker noise interference.

Recovering speech intelligibility with deep learning and multiple microphones in noisy-reverberant situations for people using cochlear implants.

For cochlear implant (CI) listeners, holding a conversation in noisy and reverberant environments is often challenging. Deep-learning algorithms can potentially mitigate these difficulties by enhancing speech in everyday listening environments. This study compared several deep-learning algorithms with access to one, two unilateral, or six bilateral microphones that were trained to recover speech signals by jointly removing noise and reverberation. The noisy-reverberant speech and an ideal noise reduction algorithm served as lower and upper references, respectively. Objective signal metrics were compared with results from two listening tests, including 15 typical hearing listeners with CI simulations and 12 CI listeners. Large and statistically significant improvements in speech reception thresholds of 7.4 and 10.3 dB were found for the multi-microphone algorithms. For the single-microphone algorithm, there was an improvement of 2.3 dB but only for the CI listener group. The objective signal metrics correctly predicted the rank order of results for CI listeners, and there was an overall agreement for most effects and variances between results for CI simulations and CI listeners. These algorithms hold promise to improve speech intelligibility for CI listeners in environments with noise and reverberation and benefit from a boost in performance when using features extracted from multiple microphones.

Age and masking effects on acoustic cues for vowel categorizationa).

Age-related changes in auditory processing may reduce physiological coding of acoustic cues, contributing to older adults' difficulty perceiving speech in background noise. This study investigated whether older adults differed from young adults in patterns of acoustic cue weighting for categorizing vowels in quiet and in noise. All participants relied primarily on spectral quality to categorize /ɛ/ and /æ/ sounds under both listening conditions. However, relative to young adults, older adults exhibited greater reliance on duration and less reliance on spectral quality. These results suggest that aging alters patterns of perceptual cue weights that may influence speech recognition abilities.

Associations of long-term exposure to air pollution and noise with body composition in children and adults: Results from the LEAD general population study.

BACKGROUND: While long-term air pollution and noise exposure has been linked to increasing cardiometabolic disease risk, potential effects on body composition remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the associations of long-term air pollution, noise and body composition. METHODS: We used repeated data from the LEAD (Lung, hEart, sociAl, boDy) study conducted in Vienna, Austria. Body mass index (BMI; kg/m2), fat mass index (FMI; z-score), and lean mass index (LMI; z-score) were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at the first (t0; 2011-ongoing) and second (t1; 2017-ongoing) examinations. Annual particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations were estimated with the GRAMM/GRAL model (2015-2021). Day-evening-night (Lden) and night-time (Lnight) noise levels from transportation were modeled for 2017 following the European Union Directive 2002/49/EC. Exposures were assigned to residential addresses. We performed analyses separately in children/adolescents and adults, using linear mixed-effects models with random participant intercepts and linear regression models for cross-sectional and longitudinal associations, respectively. Models were adjusted for co-exposure, lifestyle and sociodemographics. RESULTS: A total of 19,202 observations (nt0 = 12,717, nt1 = 6,485) from participants aged 6-86 years (mean age at t0 = 41.0 years; 52.9 % female; mean PM10 = 21 µg/m3; mean follow-up time = 4.1 years) were analyzed. Among children and adolescents (age ≤ 18 years at first visit), higher PM10exposure was cross-sectionally associated with higher FMI z-scores (0.09 [95 % Confidence Interval (CI): 0.03, 0.16]) and lower LMI z-scores (-0.05 [95 % CI: -0.10, -0.002]) per 1.8 µg/m3. Adults showed similar trends in cross-sectional associations as children, though not reaching statistical significance. We observed no associations for noise exposures. Longitudinal analyses on body composition changes over time yielded positive associations for PM10, but not for other exposures. CONCLUSION: Air pollution exposure, mainly PM10, was cross-sectionally and longitudinally associated with body composition in children/adolescents and adults. Railway/road-traffic noise exposures showed no associations in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Elderly people with hearing loss and cognitive decline: speech perception performance in noise. / Idosos com perda auditiva e declínio cognitivo: desempenho da percepção de fala no ruído.

PURPOSE: To verify the influence of verbal intellectual-cognitive skills on speech perception in noise, in elderly with sensorineural hearing loss, considering education, age, and degree of hearing loss. METHODS: 36 elderly between 60 and 89 years old with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss participated in the study. After psychological assessment using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Adults (WAIS-III), they were grouped into (GI) 24 elderly without cognitive alteration and (GII) 12 elderly with risk of cognitive alteration. They underwent otorhinolaryngological assessment, audiological interview, pure tone audiometry, and assessment of speech perception in noise using the Hearing in Noise Test (HINT-Brazil). The Mann-Whitney U statistical test compared the results between the groups, and the Spearman correlation verified the variable's age, degree of hearing loss, and level of education. RESULTS: There was no difference between the groups in the ability to perceive speech in noise, except in the noise on the left condition, in which GII showed better performance in HINT-Brazil. The degree of hearing loss and level of education influenced the perception of speech in noise. The level of education was correlated with the WAIS-III results. CONCLUSION: The decline in verbal intellectual-cognitive skills did not affect speech perception of noise in the elderly with hearing loss. The degree of hearing loss and level of education influenced the performance of the elderly in the speech perception test in noise. Performance in verbal cognitive skills varied according to the level of education.

OBJETIVO: Verificar a influência das habilidades intelectuais-cognitivas verbais na percepção de fala no ruído, em idosos com perda auditiva sensorioneural, considerando a escolaridade, a idade e o grau da perda auditiva. MÉTODO: Participaram 36 idosos entre 60 e 89 anos com perda auditiva sensorioneural bilateral, que após avaliação psicológica por meio do Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Adults (WAIS III), foram divididos em (GI) 24 idosos sem alteração cognitiva e (GII) 12 idosos com risco de alteração cognitiva. Foram submetidos à avaliação otorrinolaringológica, entrevista audiológica, audiometria tonal liminar e a avaliação da percepção de fala no ruído por meio do Hearing in Noise Test (HINT-Brasil). O teste estatístico U de Mann-Whitney comparou os resultados entre os grupos, e a correlação de Spearman verificou as variáveis idade, grau da perda auditiva e nível de escolaridade. RESULTADOS: Não houve diferença entre os grupos na habilidade de percepção de fala no ruído, exceto na condição ruído à esquerda, no qual o GII apresentou melhor desempenho no HINT-Brasil. O grau da perda auditiva e o nível de escolaridade influenciaram na percepção de fala no ruído. O nível de escolaridade teve correlação com os resultados do WAIS III. CONCLUSÃO: O declínio das habilidades intelectuais-cognitivas verbais não interferiu na percepção de fala no ruído nos idosos com perda auditiva. O grau da perda auditiva e o nível de escolaridade influenciaram no desempenho dos idosos no teste de percepção de fala no ruído. O desempenho nas habilidades cognitivas verbais variou com o nível de escolaridade.

Comparative Effectiveness of Personal Sound Amplification Products Versus Hearing Aids for Unilateral Hearing Loss: A Prospective Randomized Crossover Trial.

BACKGROUND: This study compared hearing outcomes with use of personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) and hearing aids (HAs) in patients with moderate to moderately severe unilateral hearing loss. METHODS: Thirty-nine participants were prospectively enrolled, and randomly assigned to use either one HA (basic or premium type) or one PSAP (basic or high-end type) for the first 8 weeks and then the other device for the following 8 weeks. Participants underwent a battery of examinations at three visits, including sound-field audiometry, word recognition score (WRS), speech perception in quiet and in noise, real-ear measurement, and self-report questionnaires. RESULTS: Functional gain was significantly higher with HAs across all frequencies (P < 0.001). While both PSAPs and HAs improved WRS from the unaided condition, HAs were superior to PSAPs. The speech recognition threshold in quiet conditions and signal-to-noise ratio in noisy conditions were significantly lower in the HA-aided condition than in the PSAP-aided condition, and in the PSAP-aided condition than in the unaided condition. Subjective satisfaction also favored HAs than PSAPs in questionnaires, Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit, International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids, and Host Institutional Questionnaire. CONCLUSION: While PSAPs provide some benefit for moderate to moderately severe unilateral hearing loss, HAs are more effective. This underscores the potential role of PSAPs as an accessible, affordable first-line intervention in hearing rehabilitation, particularly for individuals facing challenges in accessing conventional HAs.

A perceptual similarity space for speech based on self-supervised speech representations.

Speech recognition by both humans and machines frequently fails in non-optimal yet common situations. For example, word recognition error rates for second-language (L2) speech can be high, especially under conditions involving background noise. At the same time, both human and machine speech recognition sometimes shows remarkable robustness against signal- and noise-related degradation. Which acoustic features of speech explain this substantial variation in intelligibility? Current approaches align speech to text to extract a small set of pre-defined spectro-temporal properties from specific sounds in particular words. However, variation in these properties leaves much cross-talker variation in intelligibility unexplained. We examine an alternative approach utilizing a perceptual similarity space acquired using self-supervised learning. This approach encodes distinctions between speech samples without requiring pre-defined acoustic features or speech-to-text alignment. We show that L2 English speech samples are less tightly clustered in the space than L1 samples reflecting variability in English proficiency among L2 talkers. Critically, distances in this similarity space are perceptually meaningful: L1 English listeners have lower recognition accuracy for L2 speakers whose speech is more distant in the space from L1 speech. These results indicate that perceptual similarity may form the basis for an entirely new speech and language analysis approach.

Impacts of Different Noise Environments on Polysomnographic Monitoring Parameters and Sleep Quality Among Hospitalized Patients.

BACKGROUND: Excessive noise levels may decrease patients' sleep quality and increase the risk of sleep disorders in patients. Given that only a few studies have been conducted on noise levels and sleep quality in hospitalized patients, this study investigated the effects of different noise environments on polysomnographic parameters and sleep in hospitalized patients. It also analyzed the factors associated with patients' sleep quality. METHODS: A sample of 244 cases of hospitalized patients were retrospectively selected from March 2020 to March 2023. A total of 122 patients without ward noise reduction treatment were set as the control group. A total of 122 patients who were treated with ward noise reduction were set as the observation group. The polysomnographic monitoring parameters and sleep conditions levels were compared between the two groups, after which logistic regression was used to analyze the relevant factors that affected patients' sleep. RESULTS: The incidence of noise level, rapid eye movement stage (R) phase proportion, nonrapid eye movement stage 1 (N1) phase proportion, and poorer sleep quality all had higher levels in the control group than in the observation group. In comparison, nonrapid eye movement stage 2 (N2) phase proportion, total sleep time (TST), and sleep efficiency (SE) were all lower than those in the observation group (P < 0.05). Regression analysis revealed that the need for surgery, having diabetes mellitus, higher noise level and low N2 percentage levels were all associated factors affecting the sleep quality of patients. CONCLUSION: Environments with higher levels of noise can lead to patients' poorer sleep quality. Thus, it is necessary to actively implement noise management measures to avoid higher noise levels and maintain good sleep quality among patients.

Effect of Acoustic Environment in Wards on Postoperative Rehabilitation in Patients with Oral Cancer: A Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: The increase in patient flow, replacement of medical equipment, and variations in surrounding environments induce increasingly serious acoustic environment problems in hospitals. This study aims to provide additional bases for the formulation of subsequent management plans in clinical practice by analyzing the influence of the acoustic environment in wards and the postoperative rehabilitation effect among patients with oral cancer. METHODS: The medical records of 210 patients with oral cancer undergoing surgical treatment in Jinan Stomatological Hospital from February 2020 to October 2022 were selected for retrospective analysis. Patients with the acoustic environment in wards >55 and ≤55 dB were classified as groups A and B, respectively, according to the acoustic environment in wards. The effects of the acoustic environment in wards on postoperative blood pressure, blood viscosity, and blood glucose fluctuation (BGF) were observed to further analyze their relationship. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed in indices such as preoperative systolic pressure (SP), diastolic pressure (DP), cardiac output (CO), postoperative CO, total cholesterol, and low- and high-density lipoproteins between the two groups (P > 0.05). The SP, DP, whole blood low-shear viscosity (WBLSV), whole blood middle-shear viscosity (WBMSV), whole blood high-shear viscosity (WBHSV), and BGF in group B were significantly lower than group A (P < 0.05). Correlation results showed that the total mean value of the acoustic environment in wards was positively correlated with SP, DP, WBLSV, WBMSV, WBHSV, and BGF (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The high acoustic environment in wards is significantly positively correlated with postoperative blood pressure, blood viscosity, and BGF in patients with oral cancer. The hospital should focus on and strengthen the management of the acoustic environment in wards, providing additional schemes to promote the postoperative recovery of patients with oral cancer.

Effect of Ward Noise Management Combined with Meditation Training on Stroke Rehabilitation Patients.

OBJECTIVE: To study the value of ward noise management combined with meditation training in stroke rehabilitation patients. METHODS: According to the retrospective analysis method, 150 stroke patients hospitalized in the rehabilitation center of a Tangshan Workers' Hospital from July 2020 to December 2023 were selected as study objects. They were divided into three groups, namely the control group (routine rehabilitation care, n = 50), observation group A (meditation training, n = 50), and observation group B (meditation training and ward noise management, n = 50) according to whether they received ward noise management and meditation training. The general demographic data, Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Short Form 36 (SF-36) were collected. Chi-square test and analysis of variance were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: The baseline data of the patients in each group were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Before treatment, no difference in the FSS, PSQI, SF-36 scores and environmental noise level between the groups (P > 0.05) was observed. After management, the scores of SF-36 in observation group B were higher than those in the control group and observation group A (P < 0.05) except for somatic pain. Other indicators in observation group B were lower than those in the control and observation group A (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Ward noise management and meditation training can effectively reduce patients' fatigue, significantly reducing ambient noise levels, promoting the improvement of life quality, and improving sleep quality.

Effect of Ward-Noise-Reduction Management on the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the effect of ward-noise-reduction management on the mental health and quality of life of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. METHODS: The medical records of 275 patients with inflammatory bowel disease admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from January 2020 to January 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Routine care was performed for such hospitalized patients from January 2020 to July 2021. Thus, 124 patients were enrolled in the control group. From August 2021 to January 2023, our hospital implemented ward-noise-reduction management for such inpatients, and 151 patients were included in the observation group. The Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ), and the noise level at the time of admission and discharge were compared. RESULTS: No significant difference in the State Anxiety Scale (S-AI), Trait Anxiety Scale (T-AI), and AIS and IBDQ scores at baseline existed between the two groups (P > 0.05). After nursing, the S-AI, T-AI, and AIS scores of the observation group were lower than those of the control group, and the IBDQ score of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05). The noise level of the observation group was lower than that of the control group during hospitalization in maximum sound level and average intermediate (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The application of ward-noise-reduction management in the nursing of patients with inflammatory bowel disease can improve their negative mood, improve their sleep quality, and quality of life, and reduce the ward noise level in maximum sound level and average intermediate, which has high clinical value.