High noise levels have been recognized as a serious problem in hospital environments during both night- and daytime, and have been associated with a negative impact on patients' health status. The aim of this study was to measure and detect differences in noise levels between an ICU and a pulmonary ward in two general hospitals in Greece. Methods: Noise measurements were recorded in one-hour intervals using the Cirrus CR: 245/R2 Environmental Noise Analyzer in a 30-bed pulmonary ward and in a 16-bed general ICU for seven consecutive days. Results: Noise levels detected in the ward were significantly lower than those detected in the ICU (52.6 ± 8.2 dB vs 59 ± 2.2 dB, P < 0.001). Noise levels decreased significantly during the course of the day in the ward, reaching the lowest limits during the night shift. This was not observed in the ICU and this pattern was constant during the periods monitored in both departments. Conclusion: Noise levels measured in the ward and in the ICU were high, significantly exceeding the highest permitted values for hospitals. The latter was more obviously recorded in the ICU.

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While no legal rules or regulations exist in Germany, voluntary measures were introduced to achieve a reduction of sound pressure levels in discotheques to levels below 100 dB(A). To evaluate the current levels in Bavarian discotheques and to find out whether these voluntary measures ensured compliance with the recommended limits, sound pressure levels were measured in 20 Bavarian discotheques between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. With respect to the equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level for each 30-minute period (L _Aeq,30min ), only 4/20 discotheques remained below the limit of 100 dB(A) in all time periods. Ten discotheques had sound pressure levels below 100 dB(A) for the total measurement period (L _Aeq,180min ). None of the evaluated factors (weekday, size, estimated age of attendees, the use of voluntary measures such as participation of disc jockeys in a tutorial, or the availability of a sound level meter for the DJs) was significantly associated with the maximal L _{Aeq, 30min} . Thus, the introduction of voluntary measures was not sufficient to ensure compliance with the recommended limits of sound pressure levels.

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The purposes of the study were to investigate children's knowledge about hearing conservation, the types of protective behaviors they would adopt towards noise, the agreement between children's knowledge and intended behaviors in hearing protection, and reasons why they would not take any protective action against noise. A questionnaire was administered to 479 4 ^th and 5 ^th graders in their school classrooms. Results indicated that children scored low (62.01%) on this hearing conservation questionnaire. They scored the highest in strategies of hearing protection (69.89%), followed by their knowledge in general hearing health (62.56%) and noise hazards (49.65%). Only 55% of the children knew that hearing protective devices could protect them against noise. Approximately 28% of the children did not intend to adopt any protective behavior towards noise and the major reason for this was a lack of knowledge. Children's knowledge and their noise-protective behavior were correlated ( P < 0.05). However, possessing knowledge did not guarantee that children would adopt such behaviors when they were exposed to loud sounds. Hence, it is important to increase children's knowledge about hearing protection and hazardous noise as well as to encourage actual protective actions.

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