초록 열기/닫기 버튼
Since noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is one of prevalent issues in the occupational settings,hearing protection device (HPD) has been widely used to reduce noise exposure levelsand to prevent developing NIHL. This review study aimed to introduce several types of theHPD in terms of current trends, its variety and functions, and application. Including a briefhistory of the HPD, we explain its two types, i.e., passive and active functions, in the first part ofmain body. The passive HPD has a flat attenuation across the overall frequency range, whereasthe active HPD effectively preserves communication components such as meaningful speechwith low intensity stimuli while filtering out the high levels of noise. In the second part of themain body, we discuss some negative issues of hearing functions when users are wearing theHPD. In detail, the active HPD does not much degrade the hearing performance for speechdetection/recognition and sound source localization compared to the passive HPD. Rather, reducedsound (or music) quality is improved with active one in general. In the final part, wemention that although various applications in the special fields such as factory, mining, army,airplane, and music have been demonstrated, the usage and awareness of HPD in occupationalaspect may not follow its fast technological development. Furthermore, most people do notknow about either importance or use method of HPD in the non-occupational setting. For thesereasons, we conclude that hearing professionals have to access the latest trends of the HPDand to increase their knowledge on it, and thus they should provide the best HPD prescriptionfor the public as well as employees who have to protect their ears from hazard noise impacts.
