The effects of music listening time with headphones on hearing thresholds among the young population

Abstract

Today, young people who listen to loud music, especially through headphones, are at an extremely high risk of noise-induced hearing loss. The aim of this study was to investigate how young people’s listening habits affect their hearing thresholds. A total of 88 young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 took part in the study, 44 of whom listened to music through headphones while the others did not. The control group was exposed to white noise at 55–65 dB with the Interacoustic AC 40 Hybrid Audiometer, and people who did not use headphones and said they were not exposed to higher levels of sound than the given sample were included in the study. Participants were given a survey to assess their music listening preferences. One hundred twenty-five to 18,000 Hz air conduction hearing thresholds were assessed for all participants. When the pure tone thresholds of the groups were compared, the independent t-test showed that the thresholds of the study group were significantly worse than those of the control group. Bilaterally in the 4000 Hz band and for the left ear in the 6000 Hz band (p < 0.05). There were also significant differences between the groups in the 14,000 Hz and 16,000 Hz bands in the right ear and the 14,000 Hz, 16,000 Hz, and 18,000 Hz bands in the left ear (p < 0.05). Twenty-two participants reported listening to music at a high level, 16 participants at a moderate level, and 6 participants at a very high level. Although the hearing thresholds of the study group were worse than those of the control group in the 4000 Hz, 6000 Hz, 14,000 Hz, 16,000 Hz, and 18,000 Hz bands, the hearing thresholds of both groups were still within the hearing range and could be classified as normal. It should be remembered that hearing will deteriorate if a person listens to loud or very loud music continuously through headphones. The public, especially young people, should be made aware of this.