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Updated: Aug 17, 2026
Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Published on: January 25, 2016
Hearing loss in steelband musicians
Solaiman Juman1, Collin S Karmody, Donald Simeon
1Department of Otolarygology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Trinidad.
Objective:
To determine the difference in hearing between a group of steelband musicians (pannists) and a control group.
Design, Settings, And Subjects:
We conducted a controlled cross-sectional pilot study consisting of 29 steelpan players and 30 control subjects from a steelpan orchestra (steelband) in the Otolaryngology Department of the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.
Results:
Significantly more steelpan players had a hearing loss than the control subjects at 3000 Hz, 4000 Hz, and 6000 Hz ( P < 0.01). chi 2 testing for trend demonstrated that the longer a steelpan player played his instrument the greater the hearing loss.
Conclusion:
These results indicate that pannists suffer permanent auditory damage from high-intensity sound levels and that preventative measures are required to prevent this hearing loss, particularly in younger players.
