Evaluation of hearing protection device effectiveness for musicians.
Kathryn Crawford, Krista Willenbring, Faryle Nothwehr and 2 others
PMID 35143376WHAT IT FOUND
Attenuation varied widely across participants, use of all three hearing protection devices fell over six months, and fit testing mattered because comfort, sound clarity, and correct size changed whether musicians wore them.
Key findings
01Attenuation varied substantially by device, with foam showing the greatest variability compared with manufacturer ratings.
02Use of all three hearing protection devices decreased over the six-month follow-up; the custom musician earplug was used most often, and devices were rarely used during performances.
03Reported barriers included increased occlusion effect, altered timbre and pitch, difficulty hearing ensemble or speech, and insertion difficulty.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
Only 24 musicians enrolled, and 23 completed audiometric testing; one participant did not complete testing and another had profound hearing loss in one ear, leaving 45 ears assessed. There was no comparison group, so changes in use over time cannot be attributed to the devices alone. The study tested only one foam model, one non-custom musician earplug model, and one custom musician earplug model, so other brands or designs may behave differently. The survey was not validated, and use frequency and device ratings were self-reported. Follow-up completion varied, with 18, 20, and 19 of 23 participants completing the Week-1, Month-1, and Month-3 and Month-6 surveys, respectively. Foam use during musical activities was too low to analyse correlations with perceptions. The study measured attenuation and device use, not hearing loss, tinnitus, or hyperacusis outcomes.
Declared interests
No conflict-of-interest or funding declaration is present in the supplied article text. The publication types list research support from non-U.S. government and U.S. Public Health Service.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that any one earplug type protects musicians' hearing. The study measured attenuation and use, not hearing loss outcomes, and found large individual variability, declining use, and no single best device.