To prevent intensive noise exposure in advance and be safely controlled during such exposure, hearing protection devices (HPDs) have been widely used by workers. The present study evaluates the effectiveness of these HPDs, partitioned into three different outcomes, such as sound attenuation, sound localization, and speech perception. Seven electronic journal databases were used to search for published articles from 2000 to 2021. Based on inclusion criteria, 20 articles were chosen and then analyzed. For a systematic review and meta-analysis, standardized mean differences (SMDs) and effect size were calculated using a random-effect model. The funnel plot and Egger’s regression analysis were conducted to assess the risk of bias. From the overall results of the included 20 articles, we found that the HPD function performed significantly well for their users (SMDs: 0.457, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.034–0.881, p < 0.05). Specifically, a subgroup analysis showed a meaningful difference in sound attenuation (SMDs: 1.080, 95% CI: 0.167–1.993, p < 0.05) when to wear and not to wear HPDs, but indicated no significance between the groups for sound localization (SMDs: 0.177, 95% CI: 0.540–0.894, p = 0.628) and speech perception (SMDs: 0.366, 95% CI: −0.100–1.086, p = 0.103). The HPDs work well for their originally designated purposes without interfering to find the location of the sound sources and for talking between the workers. Taking into account various factors, such as the characteristics of the users, selection of appropriate types, and fitting methods for wearing in different circumstances, seems to be necessary for a reliable systematic analysis in terms of offering the most useful information to the workers.

Given the concern regarding increased hearing loss in young people who use personal listening devices (PLDs), the present study analyzes the experience of PLDs among college students to identify their knowledge of and attitude toward hearing conservation. It also explains their relationship between knowledge of hearing loss and attitude-related hearing conservation as a questionnaire response using a regression model. A total of 1009 Korean college students responded to an online questionnaire. As a survey tool, the Personal Listening Device and Hearing Questionnaire was adapted as a Korean version with 78 modified items under 9 categories. Using principal component analysis, specific factors were extracted, and their relationships and paths were confirmed using multiple regression analysis. The results of the knowledge category of the questionnaire indicate that most respondents knew how to maintain healthy hearing and understood the signs of hearing loss. Regardless, many college students habitually use PLDs at high levels in noisy environments; they do not recognize how to prevent hearing loss. Even though they continue their current use pattern for PLDs, they also had a positive attitude toward receiving more information about hearing conservation. According to the regression model, the students’ self-reported hearing deficits were due to the volume rather than the frequent use. Interestingly, knowledge about hearing loss may encourage students to develop a positive attitude toward reasonable restriction of PLD use. When PLD users have detailed knowledge about the hearing loss provided by professionals, we believe that most will avoid serious hearing problems and its risks and maintain a judicious attitude toward their own conservation.

Due to a lack of knowledge about age-related hearing loss, its early identification and appropriate intervention are not being carried out in the field of dementia care. Since the untreated hearing loss of the elderly leads to a more rapid cognitive decline, the present study aimed to understand the hearing-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare professionals in long-term care (LTC) facilities in Korea. A total of 557 workers (104 facility managers and 453 healthcare professionals) in residential LTC participated in this cross-sectional multicenter survey study. The Korean version of the knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) on-line survey with a five-point scale or yes/no response was applied as the experimental tool. The results of structural equation modeling showed that knowledge significantly affected the attitudes and health-seeking practices of the facility manager, and allied healthcare professionals demonstrated similar results, which showed the significant effects of that knowledge on attitudes and health-seeking practices. This clearly indicated that sufficient knowledge is the driving force for the health-seeking practices and positive attitudes of both the facility manager and the healthcare professionals. Thus, we suggest that a further step, such as the development of comprehensive and professional guidelines regarding hearing care information for these professionals in residential LTC facilities, should be followed, and believe that this effort could lead to improving hearing-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices in order to clinically and politically care for the elderly population.

The present study aimed to develop a healthcare application for the elderly who suspect or know they have a hearing loss, namely, the Hearing Rehabilitation for Older Adults (HeRO), which is available in a mobile device, and then to confirm its probability of acceptance among elderly users. Under a web server system, HeRO which had four types of tailored training for the aged auditory system (i.e., syllable, sentence, discourse, working memory) and a self-reported questionnaire to screen amount of the hearing loss was completed for the elderly. To verify whether the HeRO contents and functions were user-friendly to the elderly users, the technology acceptance model (TAM) was used. Forty-four older adults were asked to use the developed application for 10 days and then respond to a TAM questionnaire with 25 items. The Cronbach’s α coefficient of each subcategory was very high. The construct validity of all subcategories showed high eigenvalues using principal component analysis. Furthermore, our regression model statistically supported a persuasive intention to use the healthcare application because the elderly readily accept it and find it easy to manipulate. We expect the current technology to be applied to the general public as well as the elderly who want to explore digital health.

Background and Objectives: Although the digit-in-noise (DIN) test is simple and quick, little is known about its key factors. This study explored the considerable components of the DIN test through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: After six electronic journal databases were screened, 14 studies were selected. For the meta-analysis, standardized mean difference was used to calculate effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals.Results: The overall result of the meta-analysis showed an effect size of 2.224. In a subgroup analysis, the patient’s hearing status was found to have the highest effect size, meaning that the DIN test was significantly sensitive to screen for hearing loss. In terms of the length of the presenting digits, triple digits had lower speech recognition thresholds (SRTs) than single or pairs of digits. Among the types of background noise, speech-spectrum noise provided lower SRTs than multi-talker babbling. Regarding language variance, the DIN test showed better performance in the patient’s native language(s) than in other languages.Conclusions: When uniformly developed and well validated, the DIN test can be a universal tool for hearing screening.

The present study identifies the combined effects of aging and listening environment related factors, such as directionality, types of stimuli, and the presence of background noise. A total of 50 listeners with normal hearing (25 older adults and 25 young adults) participated in a series of tasks. The detection task using tone and speech and a speech segregation task with two levels of background noise were conducted while sound was randomly presented via eight directional speakers. After completing each task, a subjective questionnaire using a seven-point Likert scale was asked to measure the amount of the subjects’ listening effort in terms of speech, spatial, and hearing quality. As expected, the amount of listening effort required in all the experiments for the older group was significantly higher than for their young counterparts. The effects of aging and types of stimuli (tone and speech) also showed different patterns of listening effort for the older adults and younger adults. The combined interaction of aging, directionality, and presence of background noise led to a significantly different amount of listening effort for the older group (90.1%) compared to the younger group (53.1%), even in the same listening situation. These current results, when summarized, indicated weak tone detection ability at high frequencies occurred in the elderly population but the elderly could improve their ability by using speech sounds with broad-band spectrum energy. We suggest that a warning signal when using speech rather than a single tone is more advantageous for the elderly in a public environment. It is also better to converse with the elderly by avoiding situations where noise from behind can interrupt.