An Exploratory and Comparative Evaluation on the Spatial Perception of Two Densities of Multioccupancy Hospital Rooms. (April 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yildirim, Kemal; Yalcin, Meryem
• Other Names: Oakland Kathy guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: HERD. Volume 9:Number 3(2016)
• Page Start: 212
• Page End: 227
• Publication Date: 2016-04
• Subjects: hospital -- patient room -- interior space -- spatial perception -- privacy; Health facilities -- Design and construction -- Periodicals; Medical care -- Periodicals; Health facilities -- Design and construction; Medical care; Periodicals; 725.5
• DOI: 10.1177/1937586715599651
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1937-5867

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this article was to explore interior spatial qualifications on patient perception of two densities of multioccupancy hospital rooms. Background: The research setting of this study was the three- and six-person capacity hospital rooms used for treatment of patients at a large hospital in a major metropolitan city in Turkey. Method: The subjects used in the study were randomly selected from among patients treated in the surgical medical sciences' departments of the hospital. Accordingly, a research questionnaire was applied to a total of 101 subjects. Results: Results have shown that the three-person rooms were assessed more positively for privacy, functional, and perceptual qualifications compared to the six-person rooms. An increase in the number of persons and interior units of rooms affects negatively the auditory privacy and privacy areas of other patients. Conclusion: Consequently, although these rooms with different spatial sizes were very similar for concentration of persons and commodities, six-person rooms were perceived to be more crowded than three-person rooms.