An Exploratory and Comparative Evaluation on the Spatial Perception of Two Densities of Multioccupancy Hospital Rooms

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.