Noise-excluding enclosure for audiometry.
Excessive ambient noise adversely effects the efficiency of hearing conservation programs. Noise-excluding enclosures generally reduce the masking effects of such noise more effectively than standard earphones only. Research has shown, however, that pure-tone thresholds obtained with some enclosures may not be valid. The present study examines one particular type of enclosure, the Audiocup. The results revealed (1) that pure-tone thresholds obtained with Audiocups are almost identical to those measured with standard earphones only and (2) Audiocups more effectively reduce the masking influence of white noise. It is concluded that Audiocups may be used for screening and for threshold audiometry in less than ideal testing environments without fear of invalidating the results.
D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D006801:Humans; D009622:Noise