Relationship between comfort and attenuation measurements for two types of earplugs

• Published in: Noise & health Vol. 13; no. 51; pp. 86 - 92
• Main Authors: Byrne, David C, Davis, Rickie R, Shaw, Peter B, Specht, Burgundy M, Holland, Amy N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01.03.2011; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Adult; Care and treatment; Comfort; Deafness, Noise induced; Ear Protective Devices; Female; fit-testing; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced - prevention & control; Hearing protection; hearing protector; Humans; Linear Models; Male; Middle Aged; Noise; Noise, Occupational - adverse effects; Occupational Diseases - prevention & control; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational safety; Prevention; Prosthesis Design; Prosthesis Fitting; Risk factors; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; United States
• ISSN: 1463-1741; 1998-4030
• DOI: 10.4103/1463-1741.77193

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.