Growth of Temporary Threshold Shift from Impulse Noise: A Methodological Study

摘要

An experiment was performed (a) to validate a procedure for determining the growth rate of temporary threshold shift (TTS) from impulse-noise exposure and examine the range of TTS growth rates occurring in a sample representative of the Army population; and (b) to see how binaural and monaural impulse-noise exposures differ in their effects on TTS growth rate. Thirty-nine subjects were exposed to 155 dB peak-level gunfire impulses until they demonstrated 15 dB TTS2 at 2, 4, or 6 kHz. The results showed that (a) fewer impulses should be administered at the beginning of a test session to better estimate the shape of the TTS growth function; and (b) binaural exposure to impulse noise, under the conditions employed in this study, did not result in consistently faster or slower rates of TTS growth than monaural noise exposure. (Author)