Hearing protection devices (HPDs) are essential safety equipment for workers in noisy settings but can also degrade auditory perception. Some reports have suggested that HPDs can affect speech intelligibility, particularly at low levels, while others reported no effect for normal-hearing listeners....
No actionable practice change now; findings may eventually improve hearing protector selection guidance for workers who must communicate in noise, but clinical translation awaits further validation.
Accurately predicting speech intelligibility under hearing protection could improve occupational hearing conservation programs and inform better hearing protector selection standards.
- 01Study compares real human speech-in-noise performance with acoustic model predictions during hearing protector use.
- 02Acoustic prediction models were evaluated for how well they match actual human perceptual outcomes.
- 03Findings have implications for occupational hearing conservation and protector design.
- 04Published in Hearing Research (DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2026.109725).
- 05Bridging psychoacoustic data with engineering models is the central methodological contribution.
Acoustic prediction models can estimate speech-in-noise recognition performance during hearing protector use.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42398318
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.heares.2026.109725.
- Journal
- Hearing Research
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- Human participants performing speech-in-noise recognition tasks while wearing hearing protectors
- Intervention
- Hearing protector use during speech-in-noise recognition tasks
- Comparator
- Acoustic prediction model estimates
Primary outcomes
Speech-in-noise recognition performance; Accuracy of acoustic model predictions vs. human perceptual data