Poster Session #1: UC South Ballroom
NOISE-INDUCED HEARING LOSS IN STUDENT MUSICIANS
Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Al Yonovitz
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Communicative Sciences and Disorders
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Only recently have a number of definitive studies been published that have provided evidence that playing of musical instruments has been linked to noise-induced hearing loss (Emmerich, Rudel, & Richter, 2008; Phillips, Henrich, & Mace, 2010; Miller, Steward, & Lehman, 2007; Phillips, Shoemaker, Mace, & Donald, 2008). Both musicians and guardians of children that play musical instruments should be informed of this as well as be offered professional counseling and an educational program of hearing conservation strategies. In the University environment there is no uniform awareness of hearing loss among both professional and student musicians. Different performance venues such as football stadiums for marching bands, performance halls, and practice rooms are used by musicians and produce different types of acoustic exposures. This study will measure the pure tone hearing thresholds of student musicians at The University of Montana. An analysis of these pure tone thresholds (the pure tones are 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, 3000 Hz, 4000 Hz, 6000 Hz, and 8000 Hz, and a threshold is defined as the softest possible decibel level at which the one can detect the tone) as well as the responses on a questionnaire will be used to ascribe any hearing deficit to practice, type of instrument, years of playing, age, etc variables. Students that are given a hearing test will be apprised of any hearing loss and given counseling regarding any hearing loss that is found and hearing conservation advice. This study has been approved by The University of Montana Institutional Review Board (IRB).
NOISE-INDUCED HEARING LOSS IN STUDENT MUSICIANS
UC South Ballroom
Only recently have a number of definitive studies been published that have provided evidence that playing of musical instruments has been linked to noise-induced hearing loss (Emmerich, Rudel, & Richter, 2008; Phillips, Henrich, & Mace, 2010; Miller, Steward, & Lehman, 2007; Phillips, Shoemaker, Mace, & Donald, 2008). Both musicians and guardians of children that play musical instruments should be informed of this as well as be offered professional counseling and an educational program of hearing conservation strategies. In the University environment there is no uniform awareness of hearing loss among both professional and student musicians. Different performance venues such as football stadiums for marching bands, performance halls, and practice rooms are used by musicians and produce different types of acoustic exposures. This study will measure the pure tone hearing thresholds of student musicians at The University of Montana. An analysis of these pure tone thresholds (the pure tones are 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, 3000 Hz, 4000 Hz, 6000 Hz, and 8000 Hz, and a threshold is defined as the softest possible decibel level at which the one can detect the tone) as well as the responses on a questionnaire will be used to ascribe any hearing deficit to practice, type of instrument, years of playing, age, etc variables. Students that are given a hearing test will be apprised of any hearing loss and given counseling regarding any hearing loss that is found and hearing conservation advice. This study has been approved by The University of Montana Institutional Review Board (IRB).