Evaluating Occupational Stress in Surgeons and Musicians: A Multi-modal Pilot Study Using Wearable EEG, Biomarker Analysis and Validated Questionnaires

April 10, 2026 updated by: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
To learn about occupational stress among surgeons and musicians by integrating psychological assessments, neurophysiological measures, and biomarkers.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Primary Objectives • To assess the change in occupational stress among surgeons and musicians by measuring physiological and psychological stress markers.

Endpoints:

  • Changes in salivary cortisol levels (before and after surgeries for surgeons and live public performances for musicians).
  • Changes in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Short (STAI-S) scores (administered pre- and post-surgery/performance).

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES AND ENDPOINTS

• Assessing and comparing anxiety and burnout, based on the MBI, STAI-T, M-PAS, and SCAT, in surgeons and musicians

Endpoints:

  • Baseline levels of anxiety and burnout measured using the MBI, M-PAS, STAI-T, and SCAT.
  • Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment from the MBI in both groups.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

20

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • Recruiting
        • MD Anderson Cancer Center
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

MD Anderson Cancer Center

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults aged 18 years and older
  • Professional musicians (i.e., those with academic or orchestral appointments) or MD Anderson Neurosurgeons
  • For Musicians only: You will have a musical performance within three months of study enrollment.

For Neurosurgeons only: You will perform a surgical procedure within three months of study enrollment.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Individuals who are unable to provide informed consent
  • Individuals diagnosed with severe cognitive impairments, severe psychiatric disorders, or hearing or visual impairments that could affect participation
  • Individuals previously enrolled in the study
  • Non-English-speaking musicians and/or surgeons

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Occupational Stress
This research study is to learn about occupational stress among surgeons and musicians by integrating psychological assessments, neurophysiological measures, and biomarkers. Researchers want to assess and compare factors associated with occupational stress, among surgeons and musicians, such as changes in stress biomarkers before and after surgery or music performance, anxiety, burnout, demographic factors, and brainwave activity linked to stress. It is hoped the information learned in this study can be used to help promote better health outcomes and enhance the well-being of these workforce members. Participants will undergo saliva sample collections and complete questionnaires before and after the performance or surgery.
Behavioral: Occupational Stress in Surgeons and Musicians
Participants will complete 5 questionnaires about participants demographics, burnout rates, and anxiety levels after participants consent to this study. These questionnaires will be sent to participants via email and should take about 15-20 minutes to complete.
Optional Procedure
Participants may optionally have a surgery or performance recorded and undergo an EEG while watching the recording. These participants will undergo saliva sample collections and complete questionnaires before and after the EEG recording session.
Behavioral: Occupational Stress in Surgeons and Musicians
Participants will complete 5 questionnaires about participants demographics, burnout rates, and anxiety levels after participants consent to this study. These questionnaires will be sent to participants via email and should take about 15-20 minutes to complete.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Safety and Adverse Events (AEs).
Time Frame: Through study completion; an average of 1 year.
Through study completion; an average of 1 year.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Mei Rui, DMA, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 17, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 10, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 10, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

March 13, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 10, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2024-1393
  • NCI-2025-01927 (Other Identifier: NCI-CTRP Clinical Registry)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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