The Association between demographic variables and the prevalence of neurotoxic symptoms in operating room personnel

Introduction: Hospital personnel are exposed to anesthetic gases in various parts of health centers such as operating rooms and recovery rooms. Exposure to anesthetic gases can have serious effects on a person's physical and mental health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of demographic variables on the prevalence of neurotoxic symptoms in operating room personnel. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Participants included 404 operating room personnel in western Iran. Euroquest questionnaire and demographic checklist were used for data collection. Data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation at the significant level of 0.05. Results: The results of this study showed that the rate of neurotoxic symptoms in men was more than women and this difference was statistically significant but there was no significant difference between single and married employees and morning work and turnover in neurotoxic symptoms. Also, there was no significant correlation between age and experience of the subjects with neurotoxic symptoms. Conclusion: Symptoms were higher in some demographic groups, so it is recommended to use appropriate training programs or management techniques such as job rotation in operating room personnel.