Insomnia is a frequent problem in hospitalized patients, particularly in the elderly. This is due to several factors and some of which are potentially changeable, such as nighttime noise. The World Health Organization recommends that nighttime noise levels in a ward should not exceed 30 dB LAEq (average levels) and 40 dB LAmax (maximum levels) at night. However, several studies show that hospitalized patients are exposed to higher noise levels than recommended, which leads to worse sleep quality and, consequently, an increasing number of health complications - greater use of hypnotic / sedative medication, prolonged hospital length of stay, less ability for rehabilitation or recovery from acute illness. Some studies suggest that staff noise is the major source of noise, and that many staff and machine noise events could be mitigated or eliminated.

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