Abstract Background and purpose: Noise is the leading cause of complaints by both personnel and patients. The aim of the current study was to find the sources of disturbance due to noise and discriminate between object and people source of noise production. Materials and methods: Ex-post factor was the design of the research. Distress due to hospital noise was investigated in 161 postoperative patients in 23 hospitals wards in Isfahan. Participants were recruited using a systematic random sampling method. Participants completed the patient disturbance due to hospital noise (Topf, 1985), Weinstein's (1978) sensitivity to noise and social desirability scale. Objective noise was measured via self report developed exclusively for the current study. Results: Findings indicate that the higher the sensitivity to noise the more the distress due to hospital noise (DDHN). While disturbance due to hospital noise (DDHN) increases when noisy utilities were increased and DDHN decreases when roommates were increased. Conclusion: The findings of the research have implications for decreasing perceived annoyance of noise.

Keywords: Key words: Work environment noise, high sensitivity, noise, psycho physiological disorders

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