Sleep quality and noise: comparisons between hospital and home settings.

Background: Children and their parents report poor sleep in hospital and complain about noise.

Objective: To measure sleep quality and noise levels in hospital and compare these with the home environment.

Design: Observational within case-controlled study.

A qualitative study of sleep quality in children and their resident parents when in hospital.

Objective: Poor sleep quality impairs immune responses and pain tolerance, both key to recovery from acute illness. Hospitalised children and their co-sleeping parents also risk emotional lability and impaired coping skills when sleep-deprived. We aimed to study the experiences of children and parents during hospital admissions.