The Effects of Short-Term and Long-term Hearing Changes on Music Exposure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Sunghwa You, Tae Hoon Kong and Woojae Han
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Sunghwa You: Laboratory of Hearing and Technology, Research Institute of Audiology and Speech Pathology, College of Natural Sciences, Hallym University, Chuncheon 24252, Korea
Tae Hoon Kong: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju 26426, Korea
Woojae Han: Laboratory of Hearing and Technology, Research Institute of Audiology and Speech Pathology, College of Natural Sciences, Hallym University, Chuncheon 24252, Korea

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: The present study explores the scientific evidence on whether music exposure temporarily or permanently affects hearing sensitivity in young adults. Six electronic databases were searched using related keywords for the four categories of personal listening devices, listening habits, hearing outcomes, and age. The Hedges’ g and its 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. A Higgins I 2 was also used to check for heterogeneity. To test for publication bias, funnel plots were drawn using Egger’s regression. Based on the inclusion criteria, 16 studies were divided into two groups to identify short-term hearing changes ( n = 7) and long-term hearing changes ( n = 9). In the short term, there was no significant immediate change in the thresholds or amplitudes after the music exposure, although pure-tone thresholds (PTAs) and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) did show the highest effect size (−0.344, CI −0.727 to 0.038) and (0.124, CI −0.047 to 0.296) at 4 kHz. On the other hand, for long-term hearing changes, the PTA provided the highest effect size at 6 kHz (−0.525, CI −0.897 to −0.154) and 8 kHz (–0.486, CI −0.819 to −0.152), while also implying that habitual and repeated personal listening device (PLD) usage can act on some significant hearing changes in audiological tests. We conclude that the use of a PLD produces a few temporary hearing changes at 4 kHz after its use but that the changes are then reversed. However, it is important to note heavy PLD users’ experience regarding permanent changes in their hearing thresholds at high frequencies, and the public should be educated on this issue.

Keywords: music-induced hearing loss; personal listening device; music exposure; young adults; pure tone thresholds; otoacoustic emissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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