Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Dec 31;50(6):771-6.
doi: 10.3349/ymj.2009.50.6.771. Epub 2009 Dec 18.

Hearing threshold of Korean adolescents associated with the use of personal music players

Myung Gu Kim  1 , Seok Min Hong, Hyun Joon Shim, Young Doe Kim, Chang Il Cha, Seung Geun Yeo
Affiliations

Hearing threshold of Korean adolescents associated with the use of personal music players

Myung Gu Kim et al. Yonsei Med J. .

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.

Keywords: Hearing loss; adolescent.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to gender. *p<0.05.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to side. *p<0.05.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to age. *p<0.05.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to daily use time.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to total use period. *p<0.05.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to cumulative use period. *p<0.05.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to type of headphone. *p<0.05.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Hearing threshold at 4 kHz and means according to type of personal music player. *p<0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Magilvy K. Quality of life of hearing-impaired older women. Nurs Res. 1985;34:140–144. - PubMed
    1. Mulrow CD, Aguilar C, Endicott JE, Tuley MR, Velez R, Charlip WS, et al. Quality-of-life changes and hearing impairment. A randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 1990;113:188–194. - PubMed
    1. Lees RE, Roberts JH, Wald Z. Noise induced hearing loss and leisure activities of young people: a pilot study. Can J Public Health. 1985;76:171–173. - PubMed
    1. Blair JC, Hardegree D, Benson PV. Necessity and effectiveness of a hearing conservation program for elementary students. J Educ Audiol. 1996;4:12–16.
    1. Niskar AS, Kieszak SM, Holmes AE, Esteban E, Rubin C, Brody DJ. Estimated prevalence of noise-induced hearing threshold shifts among children 6 to 19 years of age: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994, United States. Pediatrics. 2001;108:40–43. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources