Hearing Threshold of Korean Adolescents Associated with the Use of Personal Music Players

Abstract

PurposeHearing loss can lead to a number of disabilities and can reduce quality of life. Noise-induced hearing losses have become more common among adolescents due to increased exposure to personal music players. We, therefore, investigated the use of personal music player among Korean adolescents and the relationship between hearing threshold and usage pattern of portable music players.Materials and MethodsA total of 490 adolescents were interviewed personally regarding their use of portable music players, including the time and type of player and the type of headphone used. Pure tone audiometry was performed in each subject.ResultsOf the 490 subjects, 462 (94.3%) used personal music players and most of them have used the personal music player for 1-3 hours per day during 1-3 years. The most common type of portable music player was the MP3 player, and the most common type of headphone was the earphone (insert type). Significant elevations of hearing threshold were observed in males, in adolescents who had used portable music players for over 5 years, for those over 15 years in cumulative period and in those who had used earphones.ConclusionPortable music players can have a deleterious effect on hearing threshold in adolescents. To preserve hearing, adolescents should avoid using portable music players for long periods of time and should avoid using earphones.

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.…”

“…Furthermore, most studies obtained the samples from a single institution, introducing sampling bias, whereas only three studies by Kim et al (2009), Muchnik et al (2012 and Gilliver et al (2012) years, and they were all college students more likely to use PLDs.…”

Using Earphone and its Complications: An Increasing Pattern in Adolescents and Young Adults

“…Health consequences of using headphones and earphones: documented studies on the consequences of prolonged use of the headphone among adolescents and young adults are rarely found in the literature and a few studies have been conducted on the harmful effects of using headphone and music player (1,2,8,9). In addition, the information about the negative short-term and or long-term complications of using headphone has not been conveyed adequately to the general population.…”

“…This problem might be related to increasing use of music player devices among them (1,2,6). Unfortunately, the adolescents or young people expose themselves to loud noise or music for a long period, while they are unaware of its consequences (4).…”

“…However, this activity results in many social and health problems (1)(2)(3)(4), and needs to be studied with a holistic approach.…”