Yonsei Med J.  2009 Dec;50(6):771-776. 10.3349/ymj.2009.50.6.771.

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

• Kim MG
• Hong SM
• Shim HJ
• Kim YD
• Cha CI
• Yeo SG

• KMID: 1777089
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2009.50.6.771

Abstract

PURPOSE
Hearing 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 METHODS
A 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.
RESULTS
Of 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.
CONCLUSION
Portable 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.

Keyword

Hearing loss; adolescent

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Age Distribution
*Audiovisual Aids
Auditory Threshold
Female
Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced/*epidemiology
Humans
Korea/epidemiology
Male
*Music
Sex Distribution

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to gender. *p<0.05.

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  Fig. 2 Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to side. *p<0.05.

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  Fig. 3 Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to age. *p<0.05.

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  Fig. 4 Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to daily use time.

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  Fig. 5 Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to total use period. *p<0.05.

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  Fig. 6 Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to cumulative use period. *p<0.05.

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  Fig. 7 Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to type of headphone. *p<0.05.

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  Fig. 8 Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to type of personal music player. *p<0.05.

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