To evaluate noise-related communication barriers in the operating room and to identify strategies for overcoming them.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No immediate change to audiology practice is warranted, but audiologists advising occupational hearing conservation programs should note that OR noise is a documented communication barrier with potential patient-safety implications.
Understanding how noise disrupts communication in surgical settings supports occupational hearing health programs and highlights a patient-safety dimension beyond simple noise-induced hearing loss.
- 01OR noise creates significant communication barriers for surgical teams.
- 02Mixed-methods design combined surveys with qualitative data for richer insights.
- 03Study identifies strategies teams already use to overcome noise-related communication failures.
- 04Findings are relevant to occupational hearing conservation and surgical safety.
- 05Results may inform hearing-assistive technology or acoustic modifications in OR environments.
Noise in the operating room impairs communication among surgical team members.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42059269
- DOI
- 10.1002/ohn.70266.
- Journal
- Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- Operating room staff and surgical team members
- Intervention
- Survey and qualitative assessment of noise-related communication barriers in the OR
Primary outcomes
Prevalence and nature of noise-related communication barriers; Strategies used to overcome noise-related communication failures
