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

Abstract

Exposure to loud music—due to widespread personal music players (PMPs) and noisy leisure activities—are major risk factors for noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) in adolescents. However, there is little evidence of the impact of noise on the hearing of younger children. This study aimed to explore an association between PMP use and hearing, and to identify other sources of noise among children. The study sample consisted of 1032 children aged 11–12 years old. Hearing thresholds were determined from 0.5 to 8 kHz. PMP use and other noise exposures were evaluated using a survey. We found that 82% of the children had a PMP, and 78% were exposed to noise when playing computer games. An audiometric notch was documented in 1.3% of the children. Only 11.5% of the children ever used hearing protection while engaged in noisy activities. We found no convincing evidence of an association between PMP use and hearing thresholds, although our results suggest that tinnitus may be an early sign of NIHL in young children. The study shows a need to provide children, their parents, and educators with knowledge of how to take care of hearing, including how to avoid and minimize noise exposure.

Association of Tinnitus with Depression in a Normal Hearing Population

“…In addition, hidden hearing loss with abnormal brainstem response latency or outer hair cell dysfunction, which could be evaluated using distortion-product optoacoustic emissions or auditory brainstem response, was not considered in this study. It was reported that personal music player use and noise exposure were related to the experience of tinnitus in children, although it did not frequently accompany hearing loss [ 27 ]. Central deafferentation due to cochlear damage, which was measured by a threshold equalizing noise test and a pitch scaling task, existed even in the tinnitus patients with normal audiograms of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 kHz [ 28 ].…”

Risk of sound-induced hearing loss from exposure to video gaming or esports: a systematic scoping review

“…Details of the 11 cohort studies that evaluate relationships between gaming and hearing loss and/or tinnitus are given in table 1. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] Ten cohort studies were crosssectional, and one was longitudinal. Six studies were conducted in children (<19 years), [25][26][27][28][29][30] three were conducted in adults (≥19 years), 24 32 33 and two were conducted in adults and children.…”

Task force Guideline of Brazilian Society of Otology ‒ hearing loss in children – Part I ‒ Evaluation

“… 8 In Poland, 11.5% of 643 youths aged 13 to 18 years had hearing loss at 4 or 6 kHz, and it was significantly higher in those with heavy exposure to loud music (16.3%) than in those with mild exposure (10.7%). 192 …”