The relationship between occupational noise exposure and worker’s communication skills in miners in Iran: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: Workplace noise is one of the causes of job stress. Stress can affect a personchr('39')s communication skills. Therefore, the present study was aimed to investigate the relationship between occupational noise exposure and workers communication skills. Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted in 2019 in one of the mines in Yazd province. The sample size was 80 people who were classified into 2 groups (exposed and control). The instruments included two questionnaires of demographic information and Queendom communication skills test, as well as sound measurement with noise dosimeter and sound level meter. Finally, descriptive and analytical statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 21 software. Results: Analytical results of the relationship between communication skills and demographic characteristics showed that there was no significant relationship between all participants with demographic characteristics and subscales and final scores of communication skills (P > 0.05). Therefore, the two groups were not significantly different in terms of demographic intervention factors. The results showed that communication skills (both in all subscales and overall score) had a significant relationship with the level of sound exposure between the two groups (P <0.05). Conclusion: The results show that communication skills will decrease due to exposure to noise. This skill is very important in jobs and can also affect productivity and accidents, so by reducing workerschr('39') exposure to noise, this ability of workers can be prevented from being reduced.