Hearing health literacy among professional and amateur musicians

Musicians create sound that is enjoyable to themselves and their audience, but this same sound also threatens their hearing health due to high sound pressure levels generated by their own and their fellow musicians' instruments. Here we seek to identify musicians' hearing health awareness in relation to their coping strategies. 370 professional and 401 amateur musicians in total responded to a questionnaire on hearing health, which included quantitative elements and open-ended questions. Findings reveal that musicians are generally aware of hearing health risks but also indicate a lack of discussion on that topic. However, inasmuch as respondents consider hearing protection as necessary, they articulate justified concerns about its potential impact on quality of performance and musical communication. In sum, musicians show literacy regarding their hearing health, but more guidance and training is needed to ensure effective protective measures.