The effects of hearing protection devices on spatial awareness in complex listening environments
Hearing protection devices (HPDs) remain the first line of defense against hazardous noise exposure and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Despite the increased awareness of NIHL as a major occupational health hazard, implementation of effective hearing protection interventions remains challenging i...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9836314/?tool=EBI |
| _version_ | 1797952099616555008 |
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| author | Hillary A. Snapp Barbara Millet Natasha Schaefer-Solle Suhrud M. Rajguru Sebastian A. Ausili |
| author_facet | Hillary A. Snapp Barbara Millet Natasha Schaefer-Solle Suhrud M. Rajguru Sebastian A. Ausili |
| author_sort | Hillary A. Snapp |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hearing protection devices (HPDs) remain the first line of defense against hazardous noise exposure and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Despite the increased awareness of NIHL as a major occupational health hazard, implementation of effective hearing protection interventions remains challenging in at-risk occupational groups including those in public safety that provide fire, emergency medical, or law enforcement services. A reduction of situational awareness has been reported as a primary barrier to including HPDs as routine personal protective equipment. This study examined the effects of hearing protection and simulated NIHL on spatial awareness in ten normal hearing subjects. In a sound-attenuating booth and using a head-orientation tracker, speech intelligibility and localization accuracy were collected from these subjects under multiple listening conditions. Results demonstrate that the use of HPDs disrupts spatial hearing as expected, specifically localization performance and monitoring of speech signals. There was a significant interaction between hemifield and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), with speech intelligibility significantly affected when signals were presented from behind at reduced SNR. Results also suggest greater spatial hearing disruption using over-the-ear HPDs when compared to the removal of high frequency cues typically associated with NIHL through low-pass filtering. These results are consistent with reduced situational awareness as a self-reported barrier to routine HPD use, and was evidenced in our study by decreased ability to make accurate decisions about source location in a controlled dual-task localization experiment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T22:40:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c0eb13e6073148adac45b8d7e8f5431a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T22:40:59Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-c0eb13e6073148adac45b8d7e8f5431a2023-01-16T05:31:14ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01181The effects of hearing protection devices on spatial awareness in complex listening environmentsHillary A. SnappBarbara MilletNatasha Schaefer-SolleSuhrud M. RajguruSebastian A. AusiliHearing protection devices (HPDs) remain the first line of defense against hazardous noise exposure and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Despite the increased awareness of NIHL as a major occupational health hazard, implementation of effective hearing protection interventions remains challenging in at-risk occupational groups including those in public safety that provide fire, emergency medical, or law enforcement services. A reduction of situational awareness has been reported as a primary barrier to including HPDs as routine personal protective equipment. This study examined the effects of hearing protection and simulated NIHL on spatial awareness in ten normal hearing subjects. In a sound-attenuating booth and using a head-orientation tracker, speech intelligibility and localization accuracy were collected from these subjects under multiple listening conditions. Results demonstrate that the use of HPDs disrupts spatial hearing as expected, specifically localization performance and monitoring of speech signals. There was a significant interaction between hemifield and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), with speech intelligibility significantly affected when signals were presented from behind at reduced SNR. Results also suggest greater spatial hearing disruption using over-the-ear HPDs when compared to the removal of high frequency cues typically associated with NIHL through low-pass filtering. These results are consistent with reduced situational awareness as a self-reported barrier to routine HPD use, and was evidenced in our study by decreased ability to make accurate decisions about source location in a controlled dual-task localization experiment.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9836314/?tool=EBI |
| spellingShingle | Hillary A. Snapp Barbara Millet Natasha Schaefer-Solle Suhrud M. Rajguru Sebastian A. Ausili The effects of hearing protection devices on spatial awareness in complex listening environments PLoS ONE |
| title | The effects of hearing protection devices on spatial awareness in complex listening environments |
| title_full | The effects of hearing protection devices on spatial awareness in complex listening environments |
| title_fullStr | The effects of hearing protection devices on spatial awareness in complex listening environments |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effects of hearing protection devices on spatial awareness in complex listening environments |
| title_short | The effects of hearing protection devices on spatial awareness in complex listening environments |
| title_sort | effects of hearing protection devices on spatial awareness in complex listening environments |
| url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9836314/?tool=EBI |
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