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Impact of Anesthesia Alarm Volume on Mental Workload in Surgical Trainees

NCT07089485 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 26

Last updated 2025-09-25

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Noise in hospital environments, particularly in operating rooms, poses challenges to both patient comfort and healthcare professionals' performance. Among the sources of noise, anesthesia monitoring alarms are essential for patient safety, yet no clear guidelines exist regarding their optimal sound level. Excessive alarm volume may increase distraction and cognitive load, especially for surgical trainees, potentially impairing their focus and performance during procedures. This randomized pilot interventional study aims to evaluate the impact of anesthesia alarm sound intensity on the mental workload of surgical trainees performing simulated surgeries. Participants will be randomly assigned to conditions with either an optimized alarm volume or a higher standard volume during simulated tasks. Cognitive load will be assessed using objective physiological measures such as heart rate variability and pupillometry, as well as subjective evaluations with tools like the NASA-TLX and SURG-TLX scales. The primary goal is to determine whether an optimized alarm sound level can reduce cognitive strain without compromising vigilance required for patient safety. Findings from this study are expected to provide evidence-based recommendations for auditory ergonomics in operating rooms, ultimately improving working conditions for surgical teams and enhancing both training and patient safety.

Conditions

  • Surgical Procedures
  • Noise
  • Hearing Disorder
  • Mental Workload

Interventions

OTHER

effects of sound

The surgical trainees will perform four 15-minute surgical sequences in a controlled environment, with varying sound levels (64, 67, 73, and 75 dB(A)) randomized across the sequences to assess the surgeons' responses.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Institut de Cancérologie de Lorraine

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Frédéric MARCHAL, Pr. · Institut de Cancérologie de Lorraine

  • Nour Mammari Halabi, PhD. · Institut de Cancérologie de Lorraine

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2025-09-25
Primary Completion
2026-03-25
Completion
2026-09-26

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07089485 on ClinicalTrials.gov