Environmental noise as risk factor for postoperative delirium in an orthopedic sample: an exploratory, correlational study
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Courtney Brown (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Beth Barba
Abstract: Postoperative delirium (PD) affects approximately 25 percent of participants over the age of 60 having major surgery. Long term negative effects include persistent delirium, loss of independence, nursing home placement, and mortality. There is evidence that incidence is related in-part to multifactorial precipitating and predisposing factors; however, none of the studies found evaluated perioperative environmental factors. One environmental factor that may influence the severity of PD is intraoperative noise. A surgical population with an increased incidence of delirium is orthopedic surgery. Orthopedic surgery, such as total hip or knee arthroplasties, involves the use of equipment such as loud drills and saws. The incidence of PD in those having orthopedic procedures is between 41% and 50%. The purposes of this study were to describe the environmental noise in an orthopedic operating room environment during arthroplastic surgery and to explore the relationship operational noise variables to the incidence and severity of PD. The correlational design is a non-experimental method chosen to examine the strength of the relationship between perioperative noise in the orthopedic total knee or hip arthroplasty suite and the incidence of PD. A convenience sample was comprised of participants presenting at their pre-anesthesia assessment visit and ending when the calculated sample size has been reached. This exploratory study demonstrated inconsistent findings in relation to noise loudness and pitch variables and delirium severity. However, all noise levels exceeded US governmental agencies recommended maximum levels and may put patients and personnel at risk. More research is needed to further investigate hospital noise and outcomes.
Environmental noise as risk factor for postoperative delirium in an orthopedic sample: an exploratory, correlational study
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Created on 12/1/2013
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Dissertation
- Language: English
- Date: 2013
- Keywords
- Postoperative delirium, Orthopedic surgery, Elderly, Environmental noise
- Subjects
- Orthopedic surgery $x Complications
- Noise $x Physiological effect
- Delirium