Assessment of noise levels in 200 Mosques in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a recognized concern within the context of occupational and general health. However, noise levels are seldom studied at nonworkplace and nonabode sites that are visited regularly, e.g., places of worship. The purpose of this study was to assess the...

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Autores principales:	S A Al Shimemeri, Chirag B Patel, Al Fayez Abdulrahman
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 2011
Materias:	acoustics hearing loss mosque noise riyadh saudi arabia Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/78300fb1b8264bd1b667948ff1911eb8
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:78300fb1b8264bd1b667948ff1911eb82021-12-02T16:24:51ZAssessment of noise levels in 200 Mosques in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia2231-07702249-446410.4103/2231-0770.90914https://doaj.org/article/78300fb1b8264bd1b667948ff1911eb82011-10-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.4103/2231-0770.90914https://doaj.org/toc/2231-0770https://doaj.org/toc/2249-4464Introduction: Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a recognized concern within the context of occupational and general health. However, noise levels are seldom studied at nonworkplace and nonabode sites that are visited regularly, e.g., places of worship. The purpose of this study was to assess the noise levels inside and outside of mosque prayer rooms and to compare the levels with established noise tolerance limits. Materials and Methods : A portable digital sound level meter was used to determine the noise level (measured in dB) inside and outside of mosque prayer rooms. The highest (peak) and lowest noise levels from each recording were tabulated. Statistical analysis was performed using a two-tailed Student′s t-test(alpha = 0.05). Results : Noise levels were measured at 200 mosque prayer rooms from all 15 municipal districts of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Of these, 151 prayer rooms (75.5%) had both inside and outside noise measurements and the remaining 49 prayer rooms (24.5%) had only inside noise measurements. There was significantly greater noise outside compared to inside the prayer rooms, for both the highest noise level (outside: 87.8 ± 4.8 dB compared to inside: 85.8 ± 5.4 dB, P < 0.0001) and lowest noise level (outside: 58.4 ± 3.8 dB compared to inside: 56.6 ± 3.6 dB, P < 0.00001). In all, 112 of the inside highest level measurements (56%) and 113 of the outside highest level measurements (74.8%) were greater than 85 dB, the sound level at which NIHL has been shown to occur in occupational settings. Conclusion : A large proportion (56%) of mosque prayer rooms with inside peak noise measurements were above acceptable levels (85 dB), however, prayers certainly do not last for 8 continuous hours. Therefore, the level of noise at mosques is acceptable and in compliance with international norms of hearing safety; moreover, it does not present any risk to hearing in the long run.S A Al ShimemeriChirag B PatelAl Fayez AbdulrahmanThieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.articleacousticshearing lossmosquenoiseriyadhsaudi arabiaMedicineRENAvicenna Journal of Medicine, Vol 01, Iss 02, Pp 35-38 (2011)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	acoustics hearing loss mosque noise riyadh saudi arabia Medicine R
spellingShingle	acoustics hearing loss mosque noise riyadh saudi arabia Medicine R S A Al Shimemeri Chirag B Patel Al Fayez Abdulrahman Assessment of noise levels in 200 Mosques in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
description	Introduction: Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a recognized concern within the context of occupational and general health. However, noise levels are seldom studied at nonworkplace and nonabode sites that are visited regularly, e.g., places of worship. The purpose of this study was to assess the noise levels inside and outside of mosque prayer rooms and to compare the levels with established noise tolerance limits. Materials and Methods : A portable digital sound level meter was used to determine the noise level (measured in dB) inside and outside of mosque prayer rooms. The highest (peak) and lowest noise levels from each recording were tabulated. Statistical analysis was performed using a two-tailed Student′s t-test(alpha = 0.05). Results : Noise levels were measured at 200 mosque prayer rooms from all 15 municipal districts of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Of these, 151 prayer rooms (75.5%) had both inside and outside noise measurements and the remaining 49 prayer rooms (24.5%) had only inside noise measurements. There was significantly greater noise outside compared to inside the prayer rooms, for both the highest noise level (outside: 87.8 ± 4.8 dB compared to inside: 85.8 ± 5.4 dB, P < 0.0001) and lowest noise level (outside: 58.4 ± 3.8 dB compared to inside: 56.6 ± 3.6 dB, P < 0.00001). In all, 112 of the inside highest level measurements (56%) and 113 of the outside highest level measurements (74.8%) were greater than 85 dB, the sound level at which NIHL has been shown to occur in occupational settings. Conclusion : A large proportion (56%) of mosque prayer rooms with inside peak noise measurements were above acceptable levels (85 dB), however, prayers certainly do not last for 8 continuous hours. Therefore, the level of noise at mosques is acceptable and in compliance with international norms of hearing safety; moreover, it does not present any risk to hearing in the long run.
format	article
author	S A Al Shimemeri Chirag B Patel Al Fayez Abdulrahman
author_facet	S A Al Shimemeri Chirag B Patel Al Fayez Abdulrahman
author_sort	S A Al Shimemeri
title	Assessment of noise levels in 200 Mosques in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
title_short	Assessment of noise levels in 200 Mosques in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
title_full	Assessment of noise levels in 200 Mosques in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr	Assessment of noise levels in 200 Mosques in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed	Assessment of noise levels in 200 Mosques in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
title_sort	assessment of noise levels in 200 mosques in riyadh, saudi arabia
publisher	Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
publishDate	2011
url	https://doaj.org/article/78300fb1b8264bd1b667948ff1911eb8
work_keys_str_mv	AT saalshimemeri assessmentofnoiselevelsin200mosquesinriyadhsaudiarabia AT chiragbpatel assessmentofnoiselevelsin200mosquesinriyadhsaudiarabia AT alfayezabdulrahman assessmentofnoiselevelsin200mosquesinriyadhsaudiarabia
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Assessment of noise levels in 200 Mosques in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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