{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T12:18:06Z","timestamp":1775650686961,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"Acoustical Society of America (ASA)","issue":"4","funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100021054","name":"Military Operational Medicine Research Program","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["W81XWH-23-MOMRP-D"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["W81XWH-23-MOMRP-D"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100021054","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100006965","name":"Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100006965","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["pubs.aip.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Many commercially available hearing protector fit testing (HPFT) systems are able to measure personal attenuation rating (PAR) values for earplugs, but only a few are capable of measuring PAR with over-the-ear protectors and even fewer are able to estimate PAR values with double hearing protection. One approach that could potentially be used with any type of hearing protection is to modify the real-ear attenuation at threshold method to use an occluded threshold that is measured with circumaural headphones worn around the neck rather than over the ears. However, this method would only be valid if the neck-to-ear transfer function of the headphones is stable across a variety of headphone fittings. This study evaluated the validity of a neck-based HPFT approach by (1) measuring the transfer function from headphones worn around the neck to the ear across a variety of headphone positions and head and ear geometries; and (2) using an acoustic test fixture to compare PAR values measured with a neck-based sound source to those obtained with more conventional HPFT approaches. The results indicate that the neck-based HPFT system has a relatively consistent neck-to-ear transfer function and produced PAR values comparable to those obtained with other HPFT systems.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1121\/10.0042977","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T11:36:56Z","timestamp":1775648216000},"page":"3103-3113","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1063\/aip-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Electroacoustic validation of a neck-based field attenuation estimation system"],"prefix":"10.1121","volume":"159","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-9054-0726","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Julianna R.","family":"Voelker","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Audiology and Speech Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center 1 , Bethesda, Maryland 20889,","place":["USA"]},{"name":"Henry M. Jackson Foundation 2 , Bethesda, Maryland 20817,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4655-2906","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Devon","family":"Kulinski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Audiology and Speech Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center 1 , Bethesda, Maryland 20889,","place":["USA"]},{"name":"Po'okela Government Solutions LLC 3 , Frederick, Maryland 21704,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0163-2734","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Douglas S.","family":"Brungart","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Audiology and Speech Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center 1 , Bethesda, Maryland 20889,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"231","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026040807365221900_c18","volume-title":"Specification for Audiometers","author":"ANSI","year":"2018"},{"key":"2026040807365221900_c1","volume-title":"Performance Criteria of Systems that Estimate the Attenuation of Passive Hearing Protectors for Individual Users","author":"ANSI","year":"2018"},{"key":"2026040807365221900_c2","volume-title":"Methods for Measuring the Real-Ear Attenuation of Hearing Protectors","author":"ANSI","year":"2020"},{"key":"2026040807365221900_c3","first-page":"361","article-title":"International review of field studies of hearing protector attenuation","volume-title":"Scientific Basis of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss","author":"Axelsson","year":"1996"},{"key":"2026040807365221900_c4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1955","DOI":"10.1121\/1.1605415","article-title":"Hearing protection: Surpassing the limits to attenuation imposed by the bone-conduction pathways","volume":"114","year":"2003","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am."},{"issue":"4","key":"2026040807365221900_c5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"294","DOI":"10.1080\/15459624.2016.1250002","article-title":"Inter-laboratory comparison of three earplug fit-test systems","volume":"14","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Occup. Environ. Hyg."},{"key":"2026040807365221900_c6","unstructured":"EPA (1979). \u201cCode of Federal Regulations 40 CFR 211.207,\u201d available at https:\/\/www.ecfr.gov\/current\/title-40\/section-211.207 (Last viewed August 5, 2025)."},{"issue":"85","key":"2026040807365221900_c7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.4103\/1463-1741.195806","article-title":"The viability of hearing protection device fit-testing at navy and marine corps accession points","volume":"18","year":"2016","journal-title":"Noise Health"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026040807365221900_c8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"68","DOI":"10.1080\/15459624.2023.2268190","article-title":"Measuring earplug noise attenuation: A comparison of laboratory and field methods","volume":"21","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Occup. Environ. Hyg."},{"issue":"4","key":"2026040807365221900_c9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"043601","DOI":"10.1121\/10.0010108","article-title":"Using a boothless audiometer to estimate personal attenuation rating in a military hearing conservation clinic","volume":"2","year":"2022","journal-title":"JASA Express Lett."},{"issue":"2","key":"2026040807365221900_c10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1074","DOI":"10.1121\/10.0013418","article-title":"Personal attenuation ratings versus derated noise reduction ratings for hearing protection devices","volume":"152","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Acoust. Soc. Am."},{"key":"2026040807365221900_c11","unstructured":"National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) (2025). \u201cNIOSH science update: Individual fit-testing recommendation for hearing protection devices,\u201d DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2025-104, available at https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/niosh\/docs\/2025-104\/ (Last viewed August 5, 2025)."},{"issue":"7","key":"2026040807365221900_c12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"679","DOI":"10.1093\/annhyg\/mel025","article-title":"Variability of real-world hearing protector attenuation measurements","volume":"50","year":"2006","journal-title":"Ann. Occup. Hyg."},{"key":"2026040807365221900_c13","volume-title":"OSHA Technical Manual (OTM) Section III: Chapter 5\u2014Noise","author":"OSHA","year":"2013"},{"issue":"5","key":"2026040807365221900_c14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"943","DOI":"10.1109\/JSTSP.2015.2421874","article-title":"Free-field localization performance with a head-tracked virtual auditory display","volume":"9","year":"2015","journal-title":"IEEE J. Sel. Top. Signal Process."},{"key":"2026040807365221900_c15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"S12","DOI":"10.1080\/14992027.2019.1698776","article-title":"TabSINT: Open-source mobile software for distributed studies of hearing","volume":"59","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. J. Audiol."},{"key":"2026040807365221900_c16","unstructured":"U.S. Department of Defense (2023). \u201cHearing conservation program (HCP),\u201d Department of Defense Instruction 6055.12, available at https:\/\/www.esd.whs.mil\/Portals\/54\/Documents\/DD\/issuances\/dodi\/605512p.pdf (Last viewed August 5, 2025)."},{"key":"2026040807365221900_c17","article-title":"Criteria for a recommended standard: Occupational noise exposure: Revised criteria 1998","author":"U.S. Department of Health and Human Services","year":"1998"}],"container-title":["The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/pubs.aip.org\/asa\/jasa\/article-pdf\/159\/4\/3103\/20969290\/3103_1_10.0042977.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/pubs.aip.org\/asa\/jasa\/article-pdf\/159\/4\/3103\/20969290\/3103_1_10.0042977.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T11:36:59Z","timestamp":1775648219000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/pubs.aip.org\/jasa\/article\/159\/4\/3103\/3386535\/Electroacoustic-validation-of-a-neck-based-field"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,1]]},"references-count":18,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1121\/10.0042977","relation":{},"ISSN":["1520-8524"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1520-8524","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published-other":{"date-parts":[[2026,4]]},"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,1]]}}}