EFFECT OF NOISE ON THE DETECTION OF RIB FRACTURES BY RESIDENTS

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES. The authors assessed the effect of noise on the detectability of rib fractures by residents. METHODS. Eight radiol ogy residents read chest posterior-anterior radiographs of 92 subjects with rib fracture(s) and 28 normal subjects to detect rib fracture(s) according to a five-point scale of confidence, under quiet and ''nois y'' conditions. Each individual's attitude toward noise was measured b y a multiple-choice questionnaire. RESULTS. The readers were divided i nto two groups depending on the questionnaire result: group A readers were accustomed to a quiet environment, and group B readers were accus tomed to noisy environments or were unaffected by noise. Group A's per formance, measured by the area (At) under the receiver operating chara cteristic (ROC) curve, was better in quiet conditions when compared wi th their performance in noisy conditions; however, the opposite tenden cy was observed for group B. There was a significant individual differ ence of performance in response to noise. CONCLUSION. Effect of noise on the detection of rib fractures depends on an individual's attitude toward sound and noise.