News Release

Soldiers cite 'Medic!' as a top hearing priority

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Southampton

Example MCAT

audio: Example military commands can be heard here. view more 

Credit: University of Southampton

'Medic!', 'Hold fire!' and grid references are amongst the highest priorities for soldiers to be able to hear while on duty, according to new research from the University of Southampton.

Researchers have asked serving personnel to rank battlefield sounds and commands based on their importance, regularity and the number of soldiers who hear them in the line of duty. The results form an index that will be used in the development a new hearing test, specifically designed to assess whether soldiers have sufficient hearing ability to be effective in a combat situation.

The study aimed to establish which of 17 auditory tasks (identified in a previous study by the team) could be termed mission-critical auditory tasks (or MCATs) according to the severity of the consequences of poor performance, how often the tasks are performed in training or on a tour of duty, and how many soldiers carry out the tasks.

The research team surveyed soldiers from four regiments to establish which of 17 military auditory tasks (identified in a previous study) should be used to test auditory fitness-for-duty. The study, published in the journal Noise and Health, identified the following nine MCATs:

1. Accurately hearing command in a casualty situation
2. Accurately hearing grid references
3. Accurately hearing directions on patrol
4. Accurately hearing directions in a vehicle
5. Accurately hearing fire control orders
6. Accurately hearing "stop" commands
7. Accurately hearing the briefing before a foot patrol
8. Locating a small arms firing point
9. Identifying the type of weapon systems being fired

The current measure of auditory fitness-for-duty used in British military medical examinations is 'pure-tone audiometry', which assesses the ability to hear individual tones of different frequencies in quiet surroundings.

"The problem with the pure-tone audiometry test is that it doesn't relate to the circumstances that soldiers encounter in the line of duty," says the University of Southampton's Hannah Semeraro, primary author of the study.

"By establishing what soldiers need to be able to hear and react to, and weighting these auditory tasks to reflect operational priorities, we can create an auditory fitness-for-duty test that is related to the scenarios that the soldiers actually experience."

Having completed this job analysis, the team will now set about developing and validating clinical auditory fitness-for-duty tests. The MCATs will enable the development of a new test(s) that will assess the types of auditory skills needed to perform in the situation, rather than necessarily featuring exact replicas of it.

For example, a test based on speech understanding in a noisy background might be better able to predict how soldiers perform on the MCATs related to communication (such as 'accurately hearing directions in a vehicle') than pure-tone audiometry and therefore better suited for testing auditory fitness-for-duty in the military.

###

The research was funded by the Ministry of Defence.

Notes for editors

1. For a copy of the paper: Fit for the frontline? Identification of mission-critical auditory tasks (MCATs) carried out by infantry and combat-support personnel Hannah D. Semeraro, Zoë L. Bevis, Daniel Rowan, Rachel M. van Besouw, Adrian J. Allsopp please contact Steven Williams, Tel: 023 8059 2128, email: S.Williams@soton.ac.uk

2. For audio files of MCAT examples visit: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vrqzyfxdgmtko0j/AACdhLKfq8psLOVfNHnGGoWea?dl=0

3. For interview opportunities with Hannah Semeraro please contact media relations.

4. For a copy of the related paper Fit for the frontline? A focus group exploration of auditory tasks carried out by infantry and combat support personnel Zoë L. Bevis, Hannah D. Semeraro, Rachel M. van Besouw, Daniel Rowan, Ben Lineton, Adrian J. Allsopp please contact media relations.

5. Through world-leading research and enterprise activities, the University of Southampton connects with businesses to create real-world solutions to global issues. Through its educational offering, it works with partners around the world to offer relevant, flexible education, which trains students for jobs not even thought of. This connectivity is what sets Southampton apart from the rest; we make connections and change the world. http://www.southampton.ac.uk/ http://www.southampton.ac.uk/weareconnected #weareconnected

http://www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/

Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/unisouthampton

Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/unisouthampton


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.