High-Frequency Loss of Hearing in Secondary School Students

Woodford, Charles M.; O'Farrell, Mary Lynn

doi:10.1044/0161-1461.1401.22

Cited by 24 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…Considering that we studied male and female Caucasian teenagers from medium to upper socioeconomic status enrolled in a private school, such differences (54.7% vs 3.5%) may relate to the availability of sound listening devices and affordable conditions enabling leisure habits that teenagers want to have. Exposure to high levels of recreational sound appears to be increasing among children and adolescents24274344454647 and is a likely factor contributing to an increasing incidence of hearing loss which has been reported in western industrialized countries4849. Consistent with this account, among adolescents of low socioeconomic status regular use of earphones increased from 18.3% in 2001 to 76.4% in 2008, and out of the 286 teens who reported tinnitus in this study, 99.7% were daily users of ear phones26.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tinnitus is associated with reduced sound level tolerance in adolescents with normal audiograms and otoacoustic emissions

Sánchez

Moraes²,

Casseb³

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Recent neuroscience research suggests that tinnitus may reflect synaptic loss in the cochlea that does not express in the audiogram but leads to neural changes in auditory pathways that reduce sound level tolerance (SLT). Adolescents (N = 170) completed a questionnaire addressing their prior experience with tinnitus, potentially risky listening habits, and sensitivity to ordinary sounds, followed by psychoacoustic measurements in a sound booth. Among all adolescents 54.7% reported by questionnaire that they had previously experienced tinnitus, while 28.8% heard tinnitus in the booth. Psychoacoustic properties of tinnitus measured in the sound booth corresponded with those of chronic adult tinnitus sufferers. Neither hearing thresholds (≤15 dB HL to 16 kHz) nor otoacoustic emissions discriminated between adolescents reporting or not reporting tinnitus in the sound booth, but loudness discomfort levels (a psychoacoustic measure of SLT) did so, averaging 11.3 dB lower in adolescents experiencing tinnitus in the acoustic chamber. Although risky listening habits were near universal, the teenagers experiencing tinnitus and reduced SLT tended to be more protective of their hearing. Tinnitus and reduced SLT could be early indications of a vulnerability to hidden synaptic injury that is prevalent among adolescents and expressed following exposure to high level environmental sounds.Tinnitus (chronic ringing of the ears) reduces quality of life for millions worldwide. Although the majority of cases are diagnosed after the age of 50 years, persistent tinnitus can occur at any age including in childhood and adolescence 1 . Neuroscience research suggests that most cases of tinnitus are caused, not by pathological increased auditory nerve activity in the cochlea related to otological disease, but by neuroplastic changes that occur in central auditory pathways following deafferentation of those pathways by damage to the cochlear transduction mechanism (inner and outer hair cells and their stereocilia) or to auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) that convey sound information from ribbon synapses on inner hair cells to the brain [2][3][4][5] . Damage to these cochlear structures (sensorineural hearing loss) can increase thresholds for sound detection measured by the clinical audiogram, and accordingly, audiometric hearing loss putatively caused by noise exposure or the aging process is present in most tinnitus sufferers 6 . However, not all tinnitus patients have abnormal audiograms. Cochlear pathology in these cases may involve, not low-threshold ANFs that are tapped by the audiogram, but high-threshold ANFs that depolarize (fire) only to suprathreshold sounds. Studies in a mouse model of hearing loss found that ~45% of ribbon synapses on high-threshold ANFs were permanently lost following exposure to a level of sound similar to that of some discotheques, with no loss of ribbon synapses on low threshold ANFs or persisting structural damage to cochlear hair cells or their stereocilia [7][8][9][10] . Consequently, wave I of the auditory br...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tinnitus is associated with reduced sound level tolerance in adolescents with normal audiograms and otoacoustic emissions

Sánchez

Moraes²,

Casseb³

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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“…60,61 In addition, some adolescents are entering the workforce with hearing losses that are likely to affect their employment options. 23,62 Many studies of nonoccupational noise exposure reference occupational noise standards as a basis for determining risk levels of exposure. 4,5 However, the appropriateness of this method has not been explicitly studied.…”

Section: Public Health Effects Of Nihl In Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Few hearing conservation programs are consistently implemented in U.S. schools 78 or targeted to family members 79 ; however, many school activities, including band and industrial arts, can produce sound levels that exceed OSHA intensity exposure thresholds. 5,36,62,[80][81][82] Youth also may pursue noisy recreational activities such as hunting or other use of firearms 6 or motor sports 7,[83][84][85] that produce potentially hazardous noise levels. Recent research also has examined children's exposure to personal listening devices [10][11][12] and loud toys.…”

Section: Hearing Conservation Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in School-Age Children: What Do We Know?

Hidecker¹

2008

Semin Hear

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An increasing number of children are exposed to louder sounds at younger ages, which may increase their risk for developing earlier and more severe noise-induced hearing losses. Factors that may be mediators or confounders of this noise exposure-hearing loss relationship include noise intensity and type, noise exposure incidences and duration, and individual susceptibility. The status of descriptive epidemiology in this area and the public health effects of noise-induced hearing loss are summarized. Results are analyzed using Hill's epidemiologic causal criteria. Longitudinal epidemiologic research is needed that will measure children's sound exposures and hearing outcomes within the same study to determine the extent of the problem and to improve understanding of possible causal pathways. In addition, hearing conservation programs need to be implemented more widely, and the programs' outcomes in increasing both knowledge and preventive behaviors need to be demonstrated in diverse locations. Some public policy health issues concerning prevention of noise-induced hearing loss in children are discussed.Learning Outcomes: As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to (1) list the factors related to NIHL and (2) list the factors related to individual susceptibility to noise exposure.

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“…The findings from this survey certainly suggest the need for some form of hearing conservation program at the high school level." Woodford & O'Farrell (1983) surveyed school shops in Alabama, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. They concluded: 1) sound levels in most school shops were potentially hazardous to hearing; 2) only a small percentage of schools furnished hearing protection or monitored sound levels; 3) students were more likely to have high-frequency hearing loss if they engaged in noisy activities; 4) students were not motivated to use HPDs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%