Open AccessRelationship between comfort and attenuation measurements for two types of earplugs
Author(s) -
David C. Byrne,
Roger T. Davis,
Peter Shaw,
Burgundy M Specht,
Amy N Holland
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
noise and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.344
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1998-4030
pISSN - 1463-1741
DOI - 10.4103/1463-1741.77193
Subject(s) - attenuation , audiology , hearing protection , hearing loss , noise (video) , noise exposure , acoustic attenuation , acoustics , computer science , medicine , physics , artificial intelligence , optics , image (mathematics)
Noise-induced hearing loss is almost always preventable if properly fitted hearing protectors are worn to reduce exposure. Many individuals choose not to wear hearing protection because it may interfere with effective communication in the workplace or it may be uncomfortable. Hearing protector comfort has not received the same amount of attention as noise reduction capability. The present study was conducted to evaluate the comfort level of two different types of insert earplugs as well as the attenuation levels achieved by the earplugs. Attenuation levels were obtained with a commercially available earplug fit-test system, and the comfort ratings were obtained by questionnaire. The primary research objective was to determine whether hearing protector comfort was related to measured attenuation values. A linear mixed effects model provided evidence for an inverse relationship between comfort and attenuation.