The Effect of Ear Covering on Sound Localization and Speech Intelligibility in Operating Room.

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Surgical Safety
• Operating Room Environment

Background:

• Surgical site infection prevention often involves ear covering.
• The impact of ear covering on auditory function in the operating room is not well-understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effect of surgical bouffant caps and masks on hearing, sound localization, and speech intelligibility in the operating room.

Main Methods:

• Auditory threshold, speech intelligibility (Speech Perception in Noise test), and sound localization tests were conducted on 20 participants with normal hearing.
• Testing was performed both with and without standard surgical attire (bouffant cap and mask) in a simulated operating room noise environment.

Main Results:

• No significant changes in auditory detection thresholds were observed with surgical attire.
• Speech intelligibility was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) when participants wore surgical attire.
• Sound source localization performance did not show statistically significant differences.

Conclusions:

• Surgical attire, specifically bouffant caps and masks, negatively impacts speech intelligibility in noisy operating room conditions.
• This auditory impairment may lead to miscommunication among surgical teams.
• Avoiding ear covering is recommended to mitigate potential negative effects on surgical communication and outcomes.