Reliability of Temporary Threshold Shifts Caused by Repeated Impulse-Noise Exposures

摘要

Twenty-two subjects were exposed to the same gunfirenoise condition nine times. Their auditory thresholds were measured at six frequencies from 500 to 6000 cycles per second before and after exposure, and all temporary threshold shifts (TTS) were converted to TTS2 for ease of comparison. Fluctuations in mean TTS2 were five dB or less for all frequencies across the nine exposures, but individual differences were large and the reliability coefficients were small. It was concluded that, while repeated-measurement experimental designs appear appropriate for impulsenoise studies, group data are more meaningful than data for individual subjects. Very small samples of subjects should not be used for such studies, because it is important to be able to generalize the results to the Army as a whole. (Author)