Performing an otoacoustic emissions test on my brother, Brett Myers, who is a freshman percussionist in the Razorback Marching Band.

My name is Emily Myers, and I am a senior Communication Sciences and Disorders major in the College of Education and Health Professions. My research mentor is Dr. Margie Gilbertson, who is an instructor in the Department of Rehabilitation, Human Resources, and Communication Disorders. I have continued my research in the Fall of 2020 and plan to complete my defense by May of 2021.

During the 2020 Fall semester, I continued my research on Noise Exposure and Hearing Protection in Marching Band Students with my mentor, Margie Gilbertson. The goal of our research is to see if the provision of custom-made hearing protection would increase the amount of time members of the Razorback Marching Band would wear hearing protection.

This research takes place in several parts. The first is a pre-season survey that is sent to the band, asking questions about how often individuals wear hearing protection, why they may choose to not wear hearing protection, and if the hearing protection they use is custom-made or standard fit. This survey also acts as a way of recruitment for the study. The second is the assessments that take place in the Epley Speech and Hearing Clinic. These assessments include pure-tone hearing thresholds, tympanometry, and otoacoustic emissions. The third is the actual time that the participants wear the hearing protection. This takes place during the marching season, giving participants the opportunity to wear the hearing protection during both rehearsals and performances. The fourth is a post-season survey that is sent out to the participants, consisting of the same questions asked in the pre-season survey to see if a change in wearing time has occurred in the participants. The final part of the research is another round of assessments where in that time we also ask any additional opinions on the hearing protection.

Marching bands are only getting larger and louder. Musicians are at risk for noise-induced hearing loss due to being exposed to elevated sound levels for extended periods of time. In marching bands, sound levels can become dangerously loud, however many musicians choose to not wear hearing protection due to comfort, sound quality, or cost. My research looks at this issue and if musicians will increase their wearing time of hearing protection through the use of custom hearing protection, and our methods could possibly be applied to other marching bands across the nation.

I chose my research topic after seeing very few marching band members wearing hearing protection during either our rehearsals or performances. This observation stems all the way back to my time in my high school marching band, where no one was wearing hearing protection despite how loud the ensemble could play. I knew that Dr. Gilbertson was an audiologist, and wanting to go into audiology myself, I was certain she was the woman for the job. After a couple of meetings discussing my idea and the logistics surrounding it, we were ready to go.

With this being my second year completing this research, this season during the Fall of 2020 was extremely challenging compared to my first season in 2019. COVID-19 made everything almost completely impossible. Marching band was severely limited, both in rehearsals and our presence at football games. However, despite all of the roadblocks that were in our path, we managed to get about 60 participants fitted with custom hearing protection. Our data collection may be a bit different this year due to COVID-19 complicating things, but I am determined to see this research through until the end. Because of these challenges, I have learned a great deal about myself. I have learned that I work best under pressure, as I am more motivated and more determined to complete the task at hand. I have also learned that having help from others is not a bad thing, and that I do not have to do everything alone.

Without Dr. Gilbertson, this research would not have been possible. Not only has she taught me how to perform every assessment used in this research, she also stayed late into the evenings for every day that we had participants in the clinic, performing assessments and helping me through the research process. With her help, we were also able to have several student volunteers from both my thesis class and my audiology class help with the clinical process. With COVID-19, the participants were kept very separated and therefore spread out our workspace. Having help from these volunteers made the entire process go so much smoother.

Earlier last year I submitted my research as a poster presentation to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention and it was accepted by the program committee. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to present, as the convention was cancelled due to COVID-19. I am honored to have been accepted to the convention and was heartbroken when I learned the convention was cancelled. Hopefully, I will have the chance to present at a convention at some point in my career. I also had the honor of competing in the Honors College Undergraduate Research Poster Competition, in which I won first place in the Health category. Not only was this a great honor, but also an amazing opportunity to work on a research poster for the first time. Again, none of this would be possible without the help of Dr. Gilbertson.

The remainder of my research will consist of the second round of surveys and assessments, followed by data analysis and ultimately my defense. After graduation in May of 2021, I plan on attending graduate school to earn my Doctorate in Audiology (AuD) and become an audiologist. My hope is that I can continue my work with musicians throughout my career, building on what I have learned thus far.

With this Honors College Research Grant, I was able to create custom-made hearing protection for about 60 marching band members. I am very grateful for this opportunity and cannot wait to see what happens next.