# Acoustic Environment and Noise Exposure in Fitness Halls
## 2 Methods
### Interviews and Questionnaire  
Interviews were conducted with instructors and users to collect information about the number of hours spent at the IS & G hall and to explore the acoustic qualities (sound clarity and loudness, reverberance, and noise annoyance). The survey was conducted during the month of July 2019. The strategy of nonprobability convenience sampling was used, and everyone in the IS & G hall was asked to participate. Participants were fully informed about the study, either by reading the first introductory paragraph and approving it or by one of the researchers verbally for illiterate participants. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Material**} & **125** & **250** & **500** & **1000** & **2000** & **4000** \\  & **(Hz)** & **(Hz)** & **(Hz)** & **(Hz)** & **(Hz)** & **(Hz)** \\ \hline Cement plasticering & 0.02 & 0.02 & 0.03 & 0.04 & 0.05 & 0.05 \\ \hline Gypsum boards & 0.45 & 0.70 & 0.80 & 0.80 & 0.65 & 0.45 \\ \hline Epoxy on concrete & 0.10 & 0.25 & 0.65 & 0.55 & 0.70 & 0.70 \\ \hline Wrapped panels & \multirow{2}{*}{0.25} & \multirow{2}{*}{0.74} & \multirow{2}{*}{1.50} & \multirow{2}{*}{1.80} & \multirow{2}{*}{1.50} & \multirow{2}{*}{0.98} \\ and baffles & & & & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Sound absorption coefficients (\(\alpha\)) as a function of frequency for materials used in the simulation [53]. Figure 3: Layout of the indoor sport hall (Q); the average height was 10.2 m; the volume was 25,792.0 m\({}^{3}\); red circles represent the location of measurement points of reverberation time; red stars represent the locations of sound source (omnidirectional loudspeaker). In total, 480 people were asked to fill out the questionnaire, among whom 401 (83.5%) accepted and completed the questionnaire; the respondents comprised 210 men and 191 women, representing 137 instructors and 264 participants. One research assistant was present to explain any unclear terms while subjects filled out the questionnaire. The survey was conducted using a simple questionnaire consisting of two groups of questions. The first group consisted of general demographic questions about age, gender, whether the respondent was an instructor or participant, and time spent in the IS & G hall. The second group of questions was related to hearing problems and the acoustic environment in terms of listening conditions and annoyance. The questions were built with a five-point Likert scale, where 1 refers to positive reactions and 5 refers to negative reactions. The questions were related to the subjective listening conditions (i.e., sound clarity and loudness) (very satisfied, satisfied, fair, unsatisfied, very unsatisfied); sound description (do not know, do not feel reverberance and echo, fair, feel reverberance and echo, feel reverberance and echo, feel reverberance and echo); loud music during workout sessions (very motivating, motivating, fair, stressful, very stressful); background noise level (not annoyed at all, annoyed, fairly annoyed, very annoyed); and overall acoustic environment (very comfortable, comfortable, fair, uncomfortable, very uncomfortable). No open-ended questions were asked. Questions in the study were derived based on different studies [32; 54; 55; 56] investigating the acoustic environment in nonperforming spaces after modification. The questionnaire was organized so that its purpose was stated in the beginning, in order to obtain the subject's approval to participate in the survey according to the declaration of Helsinki. The questionnaire and the informed consent forms were written in the Arabic language to ensure clarity for the participants. The questions for the English version are shown below.