Extended High-Frequency Thresholds in College Students: Effects of Music Player Use and Other Recreational Noise

Abstract

Background Human hearing is sensitive to sounds from as low as 20 Hz to as high as 20,000 Hz in normal ears. However, clinical tests of human hearing rarely include extended high frequency (EHF) threshold assessments, at frequencies extending beyond 8,000 Hz. EHF thresholds have been suggested for use monitoring the earliest effects of noise on the inner ear, although the clinical utility of EHF threshold testing is not well established for this purpose. Purpose The primary objective of this study was to determine if EHF thresholds in healthy, young adult college students vary as a function of recreational noise exposure. Research Design A retrospective analysis of a laboratory database was conducted; all participants with both EHF threshold testing and noise history data were included. The potential for “pre-clinical” EHF deficits was assessed based on the measured thresholds, with the noise surveys used to estimate recreational noise exposure. Study Sample EHF thresholds measured during participation in other ongoing studies were available from 87 subjects (34 male and 53 female); all participants had hearing within normal clinical limits (≤25 HL) at conventional frequencies (0.25 to 8 kHz). Results EHF thresholds closely matched standard reference thresholds [ANSI S3.6 (1996) Annex C]. There were statistically reliable threshold differences in subjects that used music players, with 3–6 dB worse thresholds at the highest test frequencies (10–16 kHz) in participants that reported long-term music player device use (longer than 5 years), or higher listening levels during music player use. Conclusions It should be possible to detect small changes in high frequency hearing for patients/participants that undergo repeat testing at periodic intervals. However, the increased population-level variability in thresholds at the highest frequencies will make it difficult to identify the presence of small but potentially important deficits in otherwise normal hearing individuals that do not have previously established baseline data.

Daily music exposure dose and hearing problems using personal listening devices in adolescents and young adults: A systematic review

“…A longitudinal study by Biassoni et al (2014) also found significant hearing changes and positive large d values at frequencies from 0.25 to 16 kHz by comparing hearing threshold changes over a three year period with music exposure. In addition, similar results were obtained in the studies by Kim et al (2009) and Le Prell et al (2013), showing significantly worse hearing thresholds in participants who used PLDs for 5 years or more than for those who had less experience of using PLD. However, it is noteworthy that only a small effect size was found in the studies of Kim et al (2009) and Le Prell et al (2013), which is mainly due to a different comparison design and the sample size.…”

“…For example, Le Prell et al (2013) and Levey et al (2011) did not find a statistically significant correlation between hearing threshold changes and PLD uses when using conventional and EHF audiometry tests, while there was a significant correlation when using an EHF audiometry test in a large-scale retrospective analysis (24-year period, 8710 sample size) (Berg and Serpanos, 2011). In addition, several recent studies have demonstrated a significantly positive correlation between hearing thresholds at certain frequencies and daily noise exposure dose (Sulaiman et al, 2014).…”

“…Moreover, significantly worse hearing thresholds were found in PLD users using conventional PTA, EHF audiometry, together with significantly poor results in OAE , Le Prell et al, 2013, Sulaiman et al, 2014, even in the participants with self-reported "normal hearing" (Le Prell et al, 2013) (Table 3). Table 3 …”

Hearing Risk among Young Personal Listening Device Users: Effects at High-Frequency and Extended High- Frequency Audiogram Thresholds

“…These hearing losses often affect the high-frequency hearing component, which is localized at the basal part of the cochlea. Studies have reported that PLD users have poorer hearing thresholds at high frequencies than non-users [8][9][10][11] . Other studies, however, did not find any evidence of NIHL among PLD users, [12][13][14][15][16] and audiogram thresholds of PLD users were comparable with those of non-users [13,16] .…”

“…Prior studies often involve a small number of PLD users [10,11,13] . In addition, study subjects are often exposed to other noisy recreational activities, and it is often difficult to relate their hearing effects, if any, with the usage of their PLDs alone [8,9,17] .…”