Association Between Portable Music Player Use and Hearing Loss Among Children of School Age in the Netherlands

Abstract

In this study, 14.2% of school-aged children showed audiometric notches or high-frequency hearing loss. This hearing impairment is already present prior to exposure to known noise hazards, such as club and concert attendance, and may have lifelong consequences. Repeated measurements are needed to confirm the association of portable music player use with hearing impairment in children.

Associations of noise kurtosis, genetic variations in NOX3 and lifestyle factors with noise-induced hearing loss

“…With or without adjusting gender, age, education and working years, smoking, video volume exposure and physical exercise were found to be significant in the occurrence of NIHL. We found that smoking, high video volume, and no physical exercise increased the risk of NIHL, consistent with most previous studies [30][31][32]. Smoking affects blood flow to the cochlea and increases blood carboxyhemoglobin levels.…”

Personal Music Players Use and Other Noise Hazards among Children 11 to 12 Years Old

“…We found notched audiograms in only 1.3% of the children. This rate is lower than in other studies-4.5% by le Clercq et al [23] in a study sample of 3116 children 9-11 years old and the 16.8% figure found by Henderson et al [22] in a sample of 4310 adolescents 12-19 years old. However, Twardella et al [52] found that only 2.3% of 2143 adolescents displayed a notched audiogram.…”

“…However, Twardella et al [52] found that only 2.3% of 2143 adolescents displayed a notched audiogram. This inconsistency, especially with the le Clercq et al [23] results obtained in younger children, shows that there is a need to accumulate evidence about noise exposure and its impact on children's hearing from various countries.…”

“…More recent data (2005)(2006)) from young Americans were quite similar, the rate being 16.8% [22]. In the Netherlands it has been found that 14.2% of a large cohort showed that children aged 9 to 11 years had hearing impairment possibly correlated with NIHL [23]. In Poland, 11.5% of 643 youths aged 13 to 18 years showed a notched hearing loss at 4 or 6 kHz, and it was significantly higher in those with heavy exposure to loud music (16.3%) compared to those with mild exposure (10.7%) [24].…”

“…Generally, there are few studies related to NIHL in younger children, and their conclusions are not strong [23,25,26]. There is no clear-cut evidence for association between recreational noise exposure and hearing loss in younger children.…”