Perspectives on Audiology

Coordinator's Column

Schairer, K. — 2009-05-14

Music and Hearing Protection: A Call to Action

Federman, J., Picou, E. — 2009-05-14

Millions of people are exposed to loud music, either as musicians or as recreational consumers of music. Audiologists are in the best position to address hearing conservation problems for musicians and music listeners. However, the issue of music-induced hearing loss (MIHL) has unique challenges. Specifically, estimates of the size of the populations have likely underestimated the number of musicians at risk for MIHL. In addition, performance levels for musicians have been measured to be as loud as 109 dBA, and both professional and recreational listening devices can deliver sounds as loud as 130 dBA. However, compliance with conservation recommendations remains poor for a variety of reasons, despite increased awareness through educational campaigns. Moreover, methods to mediate exposure have had limited successes for both groups. The purpose of this paper is to assess the scope of the problem and the successes of current conservation strategies with the aim of inspiring renewed interest and solutions to the problems helping musicians and consumers protect their hearing.

Risk for Noise-Induced Hearing Loss from Use of Portable Media Players: A Summary of Evidence Through 2008

Fligor, B. J. — 2009-05-14

A growing body of evidence suggests that a small, but significant, percent of users of portable media players (PMP) are at risk for noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) from abusive use. This manuscript provides a brief review of damage-risk criteria and the methodological hurdles to accurately measuring sound exposure from earphones. The capacity of all generations of PMP exists to produce sound levels that would allow a user to exceed established damage-risk criteria. Whether or not a PMP user exceeds damage-risk criteria depends in part on the type of earphone used and the background noise that exists in the ambient listening environment. To date, estimates of noise dose from PMP use suggest that only a fraction of consumers are at risk for NIHL, but, given the extraordinary population of these devices, the absolute number affected may be quite large. Estimates of noise-induced permanent threshold shift from using PMP at high levels for 2 and 4 hours per day over a 10-year period are given, as well as an estimate of the number of people who may have NIHL from PMP use.

Affecting Life-Long Habits of School-Age Musicians

Palmer, C. V. — 2009-05-14

The Musicians' Hearing Center at the University of Pittsburgh was established in 2003 with the purpose of impacting the Western Pennsylvania community of musicians and other noise-exposed individuals. The goal is to provide education empowering individuals of all ages to make choices regarding their noise exposures and to provide hearing protection as part of the overall solution when indicated. Encouraging life-long healthy hearing habits is at the core of the center's mission. The recent data from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicating that school-age children are the fastest growing population of noise-exposed individuals suffering permanent hearing loss motivated the center to create a focus area on school-age children. After examining the likelihood of affecting various groups of children, the center decided to address this issue by targeting the life-long habits of school-age instrumental students and their teachers through an education and hearing protection program. This is a group of individuals who are known to have potentially damaging levels of sound exposure through a school activity and a group of individuals who are using their hearing for a specific purpose (i.e., making music). The program and various aspects of promoting and maintaining the program are described in the following article.