Objective: This paper presents a comprehensive literature review of past works addressing Hearing Protection Devices (HPD) comfort and to put them into perspective regarding a proposed holistic multidimensional construct of HPD comfort. Design: Literature review. Study samples: Documents were hand searched and Internet searched using "PubMed", "Web of Science", "Google Scholar", "ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Professional", "Scopus" or "Google" search engines. While comfort constructs and measurement methods are reviewed for both earplugs and earmuff types, results and analyses are provided for the earplug type only. Results: This paper proposed a multidimensional construct of HPD comfort based on four dimensions: physical, functional, acoustical and psychological. Seen through the prism of the proposed holistic construct of HPD comfort, the main comfort attributes of earplugs have been identified for each comfort dimension. Conclusions: The observed lack of consensus on the definition of HPD comfort in the scientific community makes it difficult to prioritize the importance of comfort attributes yet necessary for future design of comfortable earplugs.

Considering the current state of knowledge and in order to decrease comfort measurements variability, it is advised to (i) use a multidimensional construct of comfort and derive a comfort index for each comfort dimensions, (ii) use exhaustive and valid questionnaires, (iii) quantify as much as triad characteristics as possible and use them as independent or control variables, and (iv) assess the quality of the earplug fitting and the attenuation efficiency.

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Activity interference is widely considered to be a central mechanism linking exposure to noise and emergence of annoyance. Salient sound events in particular may divert attention from the task at hand, thereby reducing task performance. Sound events caused by traffic noise intruding the dwelling are therefore often found to be a main cause of community noise annoyance. In this work, experimental and simulation results on activity interference caused by traffic noise are compared. On the one hand, an experiment on activity interference by traffic noise was conducted in a realistic setting resembling an at-home situation. Subjects were instructed to read, while being exposed to a combination of road and railway traffic noise. The number of train pass-by events, the distance to the railway track and the emergence of train events above the background noise was varied among subjects. After completion of the reading task, the subjects had to evaluate their perceived disturbance due to passing trains and to report how many trains they noticed in retrospective. On the other hand, a computational model of auditory attention was used to determine the number of train pass-by events that subjects would notice, solely based on the acoustic stimuli used in the perception experiment. Using an optimized stochastic function that simulates the attention spend on the reading activity of the subjects, the model was able to replicate trends found in the empirical results, and estimated the number of noticed train events quite well.2

Several alto saxophone players' vibratos have been recorded. The signals are analyzed using time-frequency methods in order to estimate the frequency modulation (vibrato rate) and the amplitude modulation (vibrato extent) of each vibrato sample. Some parameters are derived from the results in order to separate the two ways of vibrato playing: vibrato "à la machoire" and vibrato "sur l'air." Moreover, time domain simulations of single-reed instrument vibratos are created. The model is controlled by two parameters: the mouth overpressure and a parameter characterizing the reed-mouthpiece system. Preliminary comments and comparisons between the simulated vibratos and recorded vibratos results are made.

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Earplugs are a common form of protection for workers exposed to hazardous noise levels. Their comfort directly impacts the effective protection by influencing their consistent and correct use. Nevertheless, comfort definition may vary according to the studies. Thus, a previous review of the literature has shown that to improve our understanding of perceived comfort and to reduce measurement variability, it is advisable to consider comfort through a multidimensional construct (physical, acoustical, functional and psychological). On this basis, the COPROD questionnaire was developed. It is intended for people working in noisy environments. Nine earplug models were evaluated by 118 participants over a six-week period. This paper presents the successive analyses that were used to validate the structure of the questionnaire and confirm the relevance of the proposed dimensions and of the addressed items. First results suggest a preference for custom molded earplugs.

Offering hearing protection devices (HPDs) to workers exposed to hazardous noise is a noise control strategy often used to prevent noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). However, HPDs are used incorrectly and inconsistently, which explains their limited efficiency. Numerous models based on social cognition theories identify the significant factors associated with inconsistent HPD use and aim to improve HPD training programs and to increase HPD use. However, these models do not detail (dis)comfort aspects originating from complex interactions between characteristics of the triad “environment/person/HPD” while these aspects are known to largely influence HPD (mis)use. This paper proposes a holistic model explaining HPD (mis)use, based on the integration of a comfort model adapted to HPDs into an existing behavioral model already developed for HPDs. The model also takes into account the temporal dimension, which makes it possible to capture the scope of change in HPD-related health behaviors. This holistic description of HPD use could be used as a tool for stakeholders involved in HPD use to effectively prevent NIHL among workers.