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Introduction: Hospitals should provide a quiet environment to promote patient healing and well-being. However, published data indicates that World Health Organization’s guidelines are frequently not met. The aim of the present study was to quantify night-time noise levels in an internal medicine ward and evaluate sleep quality, as well as the use of sedative drugs.Material and Methods: Prospective observational study in an acute internal medicine ward. Between April 2021 and January 2022, on random days, noise was recorded using a smartphone app (Apple® iOS, Decibel X). Night-time noise was recorded from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. During the same period, hospitalized patients were invited to respond to a questionnaire regarding their sleep quality.Results: A total of 59 nights were recorded. The average noise level recorded was 55 dB with a minimum of 30 dB and a maximum of 97 dB. Fifty-four patients were included. An intermediate score for night-time sleep quality (35.45 out of 60) and noise perception (5.26 out of 10) was reported. The main reasons for poor sleep were related to the presence of other patients (new admission, acute decompensation, delirium, and snoring), followed by equipment, staff noise and surrounding light. Nineteen patients (35%) were previous users of sedatives, and during hospitalization 41 patients (76%) were prescribed sedatives.Conclusion: The noise levels detected in the internal medicine ward were higher than the levels recommended by the World Health Organization. Most patients were prescribed sedatives during hospitalization.

IntroductionThere are relatively few studies of Long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAI), although poor adherence to treatment is one of the main problems in patients with psychotic disorders.ObjectivesThe aim of the study is to describe socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of a sample of outpatients with LAI treatment.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study. A randomized sampling was performed among the outpatients that were receiving LAI in an outpatient clinic in Barcelona (Spain). For each patient, socio-demographic, clinical and pharmacotherapeutic data were collected through interviews and clinical history.ResultsThe sample consisted of 30 subjects (50% men, average age 48 years). Most of the patients in the sample have basic education (50%) and are unemployed, receiving permanent disability pension (39.3%). In addition, 44.8% of the subjects were living with family members and were not married (56.7%). Of the patients, 70% were diagnosed with schizophrenia, 13.3% schizoaffective, 10% bipolar and 6.7% delusional disorder. The main reason to initiate LAI treatment was due to non-compliance of the prescribed oral treatment (85.7%). The 40% of patients were also with oral antipsychotic treatment. Average punctuation in the 3 first items of the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder: 11. Average punctuation in the short version of the Simpson-Angus Scale: 1.68.ConclusionsIn our sample, the outpatients with LAI treatment had a low functioning and disease awareness. Although the main reason to start LAI is the non-compliance, 40% of the patients were concurrently treated with oral antipsychotics. The extrapyramidal side effects are mild.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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Presentamos el caso de un hombre infectado por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) con hipoacusia, vértigo y desequilibrio de evolución progresiva cuya investigación etiológica reveló infección sifilítica. Con este caso queremos mostrar la importancia de investigar esta patología en pacientes con alteraciones cocleovestibulares, especialmente VIH positivos.