Abstract
The main objective of this study was to determine the influence of background noise levels and measurement approach on user-selected listening levels (USLLs) chosen by teenaged MP3 player users. It was hypothesized that the presence of background noise would (i) increase the USLL across all measurement approaches, (ii) result in no significant USLL differences between survey reports, objective lab measures or calibrated self-report field measures, and (iii) cause no interaction effect between level of background noise and measurement approach. There were two independent variables in this study: the level of background noise and measurement approach. The first independent variable, level of background noise, had two levels: quiet and transportation noise. The second independent variable, measurement approach, had three levels: survey, objective in-ear lab measurement and calibrated self-report field measurement. The dependent variable was ear canal A-weighted sound pressure level (dBA SPL). A 2 × 3 repeated-measures ANOVA was used to determine the significance of the main and interaction effects. USLLs increased in the presence of background noise, regardless of the measurement approach used. However, the listening levels estimated by the participants using the survey and self-report field measure were significantly lower than those recorded using in-ear laboratory measurements by 9.6 and 3.3 dBA respectively. In-ear laboratory measures yielded the highest listening levels. Higher listening levels were observed in the presence of background noise for all measurement approaches. It appears that subjects' survey responses underestimate true listening levels in comparison to self-report calibrated field measures, and that both underestimate listening levels measured in the laboratory setting. More research in this area is warranted to determine whether measurement techniques can be refined and adjusted to accurately reflect real-world listening preferences.
Highlights
As evidenced by recent publications,[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9] there is ongoing interest in examining the effects of exposure related to personal listening device (PLD) use on hearing
It is well established that available PLDs are capable of outputting potentially harmful listening levels[10] and that some percentage of the population of listeners will be at risk for hearing loss based on their estimated daily noise dose.[11]
As discussions continue regarding the actual degree of risk and the number of people potentially affected by PLD use, research must focus on isolating the subset of listeners identified as being at risk, and critically evaluate the measures used in this risk assessment
Summary
As evidenced by recent publications,[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9] there is ongoing interest in examining the effects of exposure related to personal listening device (PLD) use on hearing. USLLs were considered in two listening conditions: in quiet and in the presence of transportation noise. For the self-report field measures, subjects were directed to make measurements while riding to or from school on the bus and in a quiet environment, and to document their location at the time of measurement. This allowed researchers to confirm that measurements made on the bus corresponded with times of high student occupancy, when background noise levels would be similar to those measured by the researchers
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