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Description
The present study aims to systematically review existing research on hospital soundscapes with a specific focus on studies incorporating user-based assessments. The objective is to identify methodological approaches, acoustic indicators, and dominant sound sources, in order to highlight current gaps and inform future research directions.The research method involved a preliminary search in Scopus and Web of Science databases using combination of keywords related to the acoustic environment, hospital setting and user perception. All retrieved records were imported into Covidence for screening and management of the review process. The studies were reported in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. From an initial corpus of 148 studies, 16 met the eligibility criteria and were included for detailed analysis. The selected studies were evaluated according to research design, acoustic indicators, and reported sound source types and the extracted data were synthesized thematically. Four main methodological categories emerged: experimental, mixed-method, perception-based, and computational. Across these studies, acoustic characterization was predominantly based on sound level metrics, with 13 out of 16 reporting indicators such as LAeq, Lmax, Lden, L10,90 followed by event/frequency-based metrics, psychoacoustic, speech-related, composite or index based, and room acoustic parameters as less frequently reported. Regarding sound sources, human-related sounds were reported in 13 out of 16 studies making them the most frequently identified sound source. Medical equipment and alarms were reported in 10 studies, followed by mechanical systems, while natural and environmental sounds were rarely represented. The review provides a structured overview of current research practices, identifies methodological gaps in user-based hospital soundscape research, and offers directions for future methodological development.