The effect of white noise exposure on anxiety and hemodynamic parameters of operating room staff

Aim: Anxiety reduces performance at work. Anxiety is significantly prevalent among medical staff in general, and especially operating room staff. The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of suction-induced white noise on anxiety and hemodynamic parameters of operating room staff during cesarean section. Materials and Methods: The present study was a crossover, single-blind clinical trial on 29 scrub staff during cesarean section. The subjects were assigned once to the control group and once to the intervention group with a 10-day washout period. In the intervention group, the suction machine was left on during surgery for 3 days in a row, but in the control group, the suction machine was switched off in idle times to make sure that noise exposure time would remain below 30 min. Hemodynamic parameters of subjects were measured on the last day immediately after surgery, and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was used to measure the level of anxiety. SPSS 22 software and linear mixed model were used to analyze the collected data. Results: The control and intervention groups were not significantly different in terms of hemodynamic parameters, anxiety as well as the carryover-crossover effects (P > 0.05). A significant negative correlation was observed between anxiety score and age of the subjects (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Suction-induced white noise has no effect on anxiety and hemodynamic parameters of operating room staff. Adaptation to workplace noises can reduce the adverse effects of noise.