To Örebro University

PURPOSE: Music listening with headphones and at high sound levels is common among young people. Risky music listening may be influenced by behavioral factors, and investigating these could have implications for more effective prevention. The aim is to describe participants' hearing health and music listening habits and explore associations between attitudes to noise and measured sound pressure levels (SPLs) from participants' headphones and between perceived auditory symptoms with hearing and SPL measurements.

METHOD: This is a cross-sectional study including audiometry (0.125-16 kHz), distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), SPL measurements, and a questionnaire. The participants were 10-20 years old. Out of 71 respondents to the questionnaire, 53 also participated in the hearing and SPL measurements. RESULTS: Positive attitudes to noise were significantly associated with higher measured SPLs. Participants ≥ 15 years old had more positive attitudes, higher measured SPLs, and reported longer durations of headphone music listening. Most auditory symptoms were significantly correlated with self-reported music listening habits but not with measured SPLs, audiometry, or DPOAEs. Participants experiencing a greater need for auditory recovery had higher variation in DPOAE amplitude for both ears.

CONCLUSIONS: Attitudes to noise may play a role in shaping risky music listening behaviors. Perceived auditory symptoms may occur before detectable audiometric threshold shifts. Addressing these aspects could promote safer music listening behaviors. 

PURPOSE: To explore the role and meaning of music in adolescents' lives and the adolescents' ways of understanding how music listening can impact hearing-health.

METHODS: Open-ended interviews and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The analysis involves both individual and more generalized investigations based on the contributions from seven participants.

FINDINGS: The findings show that music is an integrated and habitual aspect of the adolescents' daily lives, used as a tool for emotion regulation, cognitive enhancement, and creating personal space where one can be free from outside criticisms and distractions. There is a preference for music listening in headphones which creates a more intense and private experience. There are varying levels of awareness of the potential hearing-health risks, but the profound meaning of music for their well-being often overshadows any concerns.

CONCLUSIONS: Despite awareness of potential hearing-health risks, the adolescents prioritize the immediate emotional and cognitive benefits of music. Technological advancements and increased social media interactions contribute to a trend towards more personalized music listening. These insights call for more complex intervention strategies and models for health promotion which account for the positive aspects of music listening, instead of merely focusing on the potential risks of loud music.

Concerns about noise-induced hearing loss among young people are increasing as young people frequently engage in music listening for extended periods of time and/or at high sound levels. The aim of this thesis was to investigate associations between music listening and hearing health among young people. Study I is a systematic review investigating associations between hearing function and recreational noise (focus on music exposure) among 10 – 30 year olds. Study II is a qualitative study exploring the meaning of music in the daily life of participant’s (15 – 19 – year – olds) and how young people understand hearing-related risks. Study III is a cross-sectional study examining associations between measured headphone sound pressure levels (SPLs) with hearing thresholds and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) among 10 – 20 year olds. Study IV is a cross-sectional study investigating how attitudes to noise/loud music and auditory symptoms (tinnitus, sound sensitivity etc.,) relate to hearing-and sound level measurements among 10 – 20 year olds. Study I showed that some previous research has found associations between music exposure with worse extended high-frequency (EHF) thresholds and reduced DPOAEs. However, consistent evidence of long-term effects remains limited, partly due to differing methods of exposure assessment across studies. Study II showed that music is an integral part of the participants’ daily life and valuable for emotional regulation. Despite an awareness of the potential risks, the benefits of music outweighed any concerns about hearing health. Study III showed that older participants (age ≥15 years) had some slightly elevated EHF thresholds and reduced DPOAEs, but no statistically significant associations were found between measured SPLs and hearing outcomes. Study IV showed that more positive attitudes to noise/loud music were significantly associated with higher measured SPLs and longer daily listening durations (self-reported). Most auditory symptoms were not associated with hearing-or sound level measurements, except greater need for auditory recovery, which was associated with reduced DPOAEs. The overall results point to the importance of prevention efforts as potentially risky music listening behaviors may indicate early auditory changes related to noise exposure.

PURPOSE: There is an increasing concern regarding hazardous recreational noise exposure among adolescents and young adults. Daily exposure to loud sound levels over a long period of time can increase the risk of noise-induced hearing loss. The full extent of the impact of recreational noise on hearing is not yet fully understood. The purpose of this review was to synthesize research that investigated hearing function in relation to recreational noise exposure in adolescents and young adults.

METHOD: A systematic literature search of five databases covering the years 2000-2023 was performed. The articles included investigated audiological measurements of hearing function in relation to recreational noise exposure.

RESULTS: Four hundred sixty records were identified, of which 20 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the results. This review showed that although some recreational noise activities can be potentially harmful, there is an unclear relationship between exposure and outcome. Some findings indicated hearing threshold shifts or reduced otoacoustic emission amplitudes after recreational noise exposure, but most changes were short term and in the extended high-frequency range.

CONCLUSIONS: There seemed to be inconsistencies regarding the utilization of methods of measuring exposure and outcome between studies. This might be one reason for the differing results in studies on the reported impact on hearing function from recreational noise exposure. To draw more certain conclusions about long-term effects, there is a need for longitudinal research that utilizes sound level measurements to assess low and high degrees of recreational noise exposure in relation to hearing function.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25114193.