Noise Exposure Assessment among Nurses in Qom Educational Hospitals in 2012, Iran

Background and Objectives: Hospitals are important and vital centers for public services,which their nature of activity and type of provided services, require a calm and silent environment. This study was done to evaluate noise exposure dose among nurses of 6 hospitals in Qom city. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 12 nurses working in 6 educational hospitals affiliated to Qom University of Medical Sciences were selected randomly at the first stage. To assess the noise exposure level, two calibrated dosimeters (TES model, Taiwan) were used. In the second stage, demographic data such as age, sex, years of employment, daily working hours, etc. were collected using a questionnaire. Finally, the data were analyzed using central statistical indices, frequency distribution, one-way ANOVA and Duncanchr('39')s test at the significance level of less than 0.05. Results: In this study, in all the studied hospitals, the level of noise exposure was higher than permissible limit. On the other hand, the received noise dose was significantly higher in the emergency, obstetrics and gynecology, and infectious wards (α