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Articles

The hearing health of live-music sound engineers

, ORCID Icon, ORCID Icon &
Pages 301-312 | Published online: 22 Oct 2020
 

Abstract

Most studies of hearing loss prevention in the music industry focus on the risk of hearing injury to musicians. However, live-music sound engineers (LMSE) may also be at risk of hearing injury due to their work-related sound exposure. We studied 27 LMSE, all of whom underwent otologic examination, including audiometry, distortion product otoacoustic emissions, speech discrimination and uncomfortable loudness levels, and completed a questionnaire investigating their history of sound exposure and use of hearing protectors. Hearing thresholds were significantly poorer than normative data across several frequencies, and a substantial proportion reported constant tinnitus (30%) and reduced sound tolerance (41%). Use of hearing protection was relatively low, with many reporting interference with their job when using it. Our results suggest that LMSE are at risk of hearing injury due to their work-related sound exposure.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support of HEARing CRC, established under the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program. The CRC Program supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and the community. The authors declare no conflicts of interest related to this study.

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