Recreational music exposure and hearing health in young adults

This study aimed to compare daily and total recreational music exposure levels and extended-spectrum audiogram results in young adults without pre-existing hearing problems.

The study included healthy volunteers aged 18-25 with no known ear disease or hearing loss. Participants completed a questionnaire, underwent otoscopic and tympanometric examinations, and determined preferred music volumes in an audiometry booth using calibrated music samples of their preferred genres. Hearing thresholds up to 16 kiloHertz (kHz) were measured. Daily music exposure for each participant was normalized to 8 h to calculate a time-weighted average of 8 h (TWA8). Total exposure (TE) was calculated by multiplying TWA8 by the number of years of music listening.

A total of 32.4% of participants had TWA8s above 65 dB. Their hearing thresholds at 125, 250, 500, and 16,000 Hz and the average of 125 Hz-8 kHz were significantly higher. Participants with TWA8s above 65 dB were also more prone to speaking loudly and experiencing communication difficulties on the phone. Those with a TE of more than 400 experienced significantly more speech discrimination difficulty in noisy environments and temporary hearing loss/tinnitus after exposure to loud music. Participants with a TE above 700 had worse thresholds at 4, 14, and 16 kHz frequencies, as well as 125-8000 Hz and 500-4000 Hz averages compared to those with a TE below 700.

This study provides evidence that recreational music with much lower exposure levels than the universally accepted TWA8 of 85 dB could negatively impact hearing in healthy young adults. Therefore, maintaining a maximum TWA8 of 65 dB is recommended.