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Research Article

Evidence of hearing loss in a ‘normally-hearing’ college-student population

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Pages S21-S31 | Received 04 Mar 2010, Accepted 12 Nov 2010, Published online: 02 Feb 2011
 

Abstract

Abstract

We report pure-tone hearing threshold findings in 56 college students. All subjects reported normal hearing during telephone interviews, yet not all subjects had normal sensitivity as defined by well-accepted criteria. At one or more test frequencies (0.25–8 kHz), 7% of ears had thresholds ≥25 dB HL and 12% had thresholds ≥20 dB HL. The proportion of ears with abnormal findings decreased when three-frequency pure-tone-averages were used. Low-frequency PTA hearing loss was detected in 2.7% of ears and high-frequency PTA hearing loss was detected in 7.1% of ears; however, there was little evidence for ‘notched’ audiograms. There was a statistically reliable relationship in which personal music player use was correlated with decreased hearing status in male subjects. Routine screening and education regarding hearing loss risk factors are critical as college students do not always self-identify early changes in hearing. Large-scale systematic investigations of college students’ hearing status appear to be warranted; the current sample size was not adequate to precisely measure potential contributions of different sound sources to the elevated thresholds measured in some subjects.

Sumario

Reportamos los hallazgos de umbrales auditivos con tonos puros en 56 estudiantes universitarios. Todos los sujetos reportaron audición normal durante entrevistas telefónicas, aunque no todos tenían sensibilidad auditiva normal, conforme se define por criterios bien aceptados. En una o más de las frecuencias evaluadas (0.25-8 kHz), el 7% de los oídos tuvieron umbrales >25 dB HL y el 12% tuvieron umbrales >20 dB HL. La proporción de oídos con hallazgos anormales disminuyó cuando se usaron promedios tonales puros de tres frecuencias. Se detectaron hipoacusias con PTA en las frecuencias bajas en 2.7% de los oídos, e hipoacusias con PTA en altas frecuencias fueron detectadas en un 7.1% de los oídos; sin embargo, hubo poca evidencia de audiogramas con “muescas”. Existió una relación estadísticamente confiable en la que el uso de dispositivos para escuchar música se correlacionó con una disminución en la condición auditiva de sujetos varones. El tamiz de rutina y la educación en relación con los factores de riesgo para la hipoacusia se vuelven críticos, dado que los estudiantes universitarios no siempre auto-identifican cambios en su audición. Parecen justificadas las investigaciones sistemáticas a gran escala en estudiantes universitarios sobre su condición auditiva; el tamaño actual de la muestra no fue adecuado para medir con precisión las contribuciones potenciales de diferentes fuentes de sonido en la elevación de los umbrales medidos.

Acknowledgments

Portions of this research have been presented in abstract form (Le Prell et al, Citation2009, Citation2010). We thank Robert Dobie, David Dolan, Joseph Hall, Alice Holmes, and Josef Miller for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript, and Patrick Antonelli, Glenn Green, Sharon Kujawa, and Josef Miller for help developing the screening questionnaire. We thank Robert Dobie, Joseph Hall, Rick Mowery, Catherine Ross, and Darby Thompson (members of the NIH-selected Data Safety Monitoring Board), as well as Gordon Hughes at the NIH, for helpful feedback and suggestions. Kari Morgenstein, Marissa Rosa, Jason Schmitt, and Lindsey Willis provided technical assistance, and Susan DeRemer provided assistance with IRB applications.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. Support for this research was provided by an inter-institutional subcontract to the University of Florida, with funds from the National Institutes of Health via NIH/NIDCD U01 DC 008423, awarded to Josef Miller.

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