ABSTRACT
Introduction: Over the last two decades the use of personal music player [PMP] with headphones/earphones has increased tremendously. Those people using headphones/ earphones on regular basis belongs from all age groups. They become accustomed to use headphones/earphones at high volumes and over long periods of time which may be implicated in ongoing permanent hearing loss in these individuals. Both the intensity and duration of noise exposure determines the potential for damage of the hair cells of the inner ear. The study population was the university students using such devices, however audiogram performed only in participants using these devices for more than 1 hour a day, at moderate to high volumes
Objective: To identify association of sensorineural hearing loss and noise exposure from a personal music player with head phones/earphones among the young university students
Material and methods: This prospective study conducted at Dow International Medical College, DUHS from January 2015 to April 2015. All Final year students were invited for the survey. Informed consent was taken from each participant. Data was collected regarding the duration and hours of use of personal music players. To detect degree of the change in hearing threshold, Audiograms assessment done on 56 participants from high risk group. The data was analyzed using SPSS16
Result: The majority of earphone users are young adults. The audiogram showed mild hearing loss in frequencies over 0.5- 8 kHz
Conclusion: There is mild hearing loss in the high risk group, therefore adequate counseling, for these individuals, regarding change of their listening habits is necessary if further hearing loss is to be prevented