Justification of the list of indicators of quality and safety of the internal environment in premises for various purposes of inpatient medical institutions

Introduction. Based on an expert assessment of the impact of hospital environmental factors on patient recovery and staff health, as well as taking into account the results of a comprehensive hygienic assessment of the main physical, chemical, and biological factors affecting humans in inpatient medical facilities (IMFs), a list of priority indicators for the quality and safety of the hospital environment for premises for various functional purposes has been substantiated.

Material and methods. To assess the impact of hospital environmental factors on patient recovery and staff health, a 23-member expert group was formed, including hospital hygiene specialists, physicians, architects, and designers. A comprehensive hygienic assessment of bacterial, viral, and fungal contamination of the air and various surfaces, as well as chemical contamination and physical factors, was conducted in the main functional areas of the maternity hospital, treatment buildings of the municipal clinical hospital, and the research institute.

Results. The main indicators of the quality and safety of the indoor environment of the Inpatient medical institutions premises, in terms of their impact on the processes of patient health restoration, were established to be: at the first place there is the contamination of the air with bacteria, viruses, and fungi; at the second place there are the temperature and humidity parameters in the premises; the third place is occupied by the presence of chemical pollutants in the air; and at the fourth place there is the ionizing radiation; followed by noise conditions and artificial lighting of the premises. Moreover, in operating rooms, dressing rooms, procedure rooms and operating units, in addition to bacterial and viral contamination, artificial and natural lighting are of primary importance: in treatment rooms – microclimatic parameters, noise level, gas composition of the air; in treatment, diagnostic and laboratory rooms – EMF intensity, noise levels; in physiotherapy rooms – air temperature and relative humidity, EMF, noise levels, fungal contamination of the air; in auxiliary rooms (food blocks, buffets, halls, corridors) – noise load.

Limitations. The results of this study do not apply to the premises of field mobile hospitals.

Conclusion. Hospital environmental factors were ranked based on their impact on patient recovery and the occurrence and spread of Health-care associated infections (HAIs). A list of priority indicators for the quality and safety of the hospital environment was identified, taking into account the functional purpose of the premises.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study does not require the submission of a biomedical ethics committee opinion or other documents.

Contributions:
Zhernov Yu.V. – concept and design of the study, editing;
Kalinina N.V. – concept and design of the study; data collection and processing, text writing;
Zagainova A.V. – data collection and processing, statistical processing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The work was carried out within the framework of the state assignment with the code "Risk indicator 25–27", registration number EGISU 125032604484-5.

Received: August 18, 2025 / Revised: November 11, 2025 / Accepted: December 2, 2025 / Published: January 15, 2026

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