Examining the noisy life of the college musician: weeklong noise dosimetry of music and non-music activities.

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Examining the noisy life of the college musician: weeklong noise dosimetry of music and non-music activities.

Int J Audiol. 2017 Nov 24;:1-8

Authors: Tufts JB, Skoe E

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the contribution of all daily activities, including non-music activities, to the overall noise exposure of college student musicians, and to compare their "noise lives" with those of non-musician college students.
DESIGN: Continuous week-long dosimetry measurements were collected on student musicians and non-musicians. During the measurement period, participants recorded their daily activities in journals.
STUDY SAMPLE: 22 musicians and 40 non-musicians, all students (aged 18-24 years) at the University of Connecticut.
RESULTS: On every day of the week, musicians experienced significantly higher average exposure levels than did non-musicians. Nearly half (47%) of the musicians' days exceeded a daily dose of 100%, compared with 10% of the non-musicians' days. When the exposure due to music activities was removed, musicians still led noisier lives, largely due to participation in noisier social activities. For some musicians, non-music activities contributed a larger share of their total weekly noise exposure than did their music activities.
CONCLUSIONS: Compared with their non-musician peers, college student musicians are at higher risk for noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). On a weekly basis, non-music activities may pose a greater risk to some musicians than music activities. Thus, hearing health education for musicians should include information about the contribution of lifestyle factors outside of music to NIHL risk.

PMID: 29172785 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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