Personal Listening Device Use Habits, Listening Belief, and Perceived Change in Hearing Among Adolescents
Hee-Jeong Lee, Ihn Sook Jeong
Abstract
PURPOSE: This study aimed to identify personal listening device (PLD) usage habits, listening belief, and perceived change in hearing, and to investigate how the variables related to perceived change in hearing among adolescents. METHODS: test, Mann-Whitney U test, and hierarchical multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: Most students started to use PLDs from elementary school, and mean preferred listening level was 70.13 dB. Mean perceived susceptibility to music-induced hearing loss (MIHL) and perceived barriers to prevent MIHL were 5.18 and 3.40, respectively. Perceived change in hearing was reported on 14.2% of middle school students and 32.2% of high school students, and as the average score of perceived barriers to prevent MIHL increases by one point, the odds of decrease in hearing increase by 2.05 times (p < .001) and 1.35 times (p < .05), respectively. CONCLUSION: Considering that most adolescents are exposed to PLD in elementary schools and about a quarter experienced a decrease in hearing after PLD use, educational programs on hearing conservation are required to start as early as in schools. Particularly, knowledge and skills to overcome barriers to prevent MIHL should be emphasized in educational programs.