Hearing and Loud music exposure in 14-15 years old adolescents

Medknow Publications

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2014 vol. 16 p. 320 - 320

dolescent exposure to loud music has become a social and health problem whose study demands a holistic approach. The aims of the current study are:(1) To detect early noise-induced hearing loss among adolescents and establish its relationship with their participation in musical recreational activities and (2) to determine sound immission levels in nightclubs and personal music players (PMPs). The participants consisted in 172 14-15 years old adolescents from a technical high school. Conventional and extended high frequency audiometry, transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and questionnaire on recreational habits were administered. Hearing threshold levels (HTLs) were classifi ed as: normal (Group 1), slightly shifted (Group 2), and signifi cantly shifted (Group 3). The musical general exposure (MGE), from participation in recreational musical activities, was categorized in low, moderate, and high exposure. The results revealed an increase of HTL in Group 2 compared with Group 1