麻豆传媒

Sean Hoverson (left) and Deanna Meinke, professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders and graduate coordinator of Audiology, at the National Hearing Conservation Association conference in Jacksonville, Florida, in February 2023.

Sean Hoverson has attended hundreds of hockey games. Like most fans, the University of Northern Colorado Doctor of Audiology candidate didn鈥檛 wear hearing protection, nor did he recognize the need. Conducted over a season of Colorado Eagles games, his doctoral scholarly project, 鈥淪pectator Noise Exposures During a Season of Minor League Hockey,鈥� revealed the risk.

鈥淭here鈥檚 something called noise dose percentage. Once you get past 100% dose, you鈥檙e overexposed to noise. Based on a recreational community guideline, the spectator was overexposed for every single game they attended,鈥� Hoverson said.

The College of Natural and Health Sciences and the Communication Sciences and Disorders program helped fund Hoverson鈥檚 study, which was the first to measure noise exposure of any sport during an entire season of play. In his first public speaking engagement, Hoverson presented his research at the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) conference in Jacksonville, Florida, in February 2023. In a nutshell, he said raising awareness for hearing protection use at sports events could lead venues to mitigate noise exposures by providing hearing protection, reminding spectators to take advantage of it, and designing quieter spectator areas.鈥淎t NHCA, we had a good discussion in terms of what else can be done for hearing conservation at these types of events,鈥� he said.

His interest in audiology came from a childhood filled with middle ear issues. While completing his Bachelor of Arts at the University of North Dakota, he shadowed a Grand Forks audiologist for a few weeks and witnessed the doctor-patient bond. A graduate assistantship helped bring Hoverson to 麻豆传媒, where he worked at the university鈥檚 Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Clinic. He also completed internships at Brighton School District 27J and Longmont Hearing and Tinnitus Center.

Hoverson credits Professor Deanna Meinke with helping him complete his research and preparing him for his presentation. Meinke co-directs 庐, an evidence-based intervention program designed to reduce the rate of noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus.

鈥淪he gave me confidence to pursue the topic and present the research. That entire time, she was saying I could do it. Her guidance with the Institutional Review Board helped me through that process as well,鈥� he recalled.

Meinke said Hoverson came to 麻豆传媒 with a desire to learn and grow through experience.

鈥淚f he was given an opportunity, he would master it,鈥� Meinke said.

And he created opportunities along the way. Instead of doing a literature review and applying it to audiology, Hoverson chose the more difficult path of conducting original research.

鈥淚t took a tremendous amount of commitment to this study,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ean wore the dosimeter for every single home game 鈥� Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights; went to classes all week; worked in the clinic seeing patients; and calibrated equipment and downloaded data between games.鈥�

She noted that noise exposure damages ears cumulatively over a lifetime, so people don鈥檛 realize when it鈥檚 dangerous. Meinke believes Hoverson鈥檚 research can advance science and inform public health.

鈥淭his is the only study that measured cumulative noise exposure for an entire season of play and demonstrated that you have to sample across a number of games to truly characterize the risk. The goal isn鈥檛 to tell people to go to hockey games and be quiet; it鈥檚 to figure out how to make the event safer, such as changing the acoustics of an arena or having the venue make hearing protection available,鈥� she said.

Meinke said advising Hoverson was a delight because he was motivated, curious and willing to work hard. He鈥檚 continued to display those traits in a yearlong externship. Since May 2022, Hoverson has been an audiology trainee at Veteran鈥檚 Administration clinics in Tacoma and Seattle, Washington.

鈥淚鈥檓 training to be an audiologist and practice under a supervising audiologist. So, I do everything an audiologist would typically do 鈥� hearing evaluations or diagnostic tests, and discussing and fitting hearing aids,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his rotation has been absolutely wonderful, and I love that I鈥檓 able to help veterans.鈥�

After he graduates in May 2023, Hoverson hopes to find a full-time audiologist position at a veteran鈥檚 clinic or hospital.

鈥� written by Brenda Gillen