Audiological and noise exposure findings among members of a brazilian folklore music group

Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Carina Moreno Dias Carneiro Muniz ◽  
Sergio Fernando Saraiva da Silva ◽  
Rachel Costa Façanha ◽  
Daniela Bassi-Dibai ◽  
Fabricio Brito Silva ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Musicians and dancers can be considered an at-risk population for developing noise-induced hearing loss. OBJECTIVES: To determine the audiological profile of members of a folklore-related music group and quantify noise exposure at their rehearsal venue. METHODS: This was a quantitative and descriptive study. The musicians and dancers were evaluated in two stages: an interview about their working life, followed by high frequency tonal audiometry. The sound pressure level in the group’s rehearsal venue was measured using a BEK 2270 Noise Analyzer. RESULTS: A total of 7.2% of the subjects had noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and 39% of the audiometric tests were notch type. During the interview 31.7% of the subjects mentioned discomfort from loud noise, although none of them used ear protection. The environmental assessment showed inadequate humidity and oscillating temperature. Twenty sound pressure level measurements were performed for Leq (equivalent sound pressure levels) and the results ranged from 88 dB (A) to 99 dB (A) with a mean of 97.05. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to high levels of sound pressure has led to NIHL in some members of the group. Some of those with normal hearing also presented a notch configuration characteristic of NIHL. Tinnitus, indicating that a change in hearing has occurred, was the most frequent auditory symptom.

Author(s):  
Nao Hodoshima

The risk of noise-induced hearing loss has been increased for young generations. Several studies pointed out that one reason is listening to digital audio players with a sound pressure level that leads to damage to hearing. This study conducted a questionnaire on 209 high school and university students living in Tokyo about their current situation regarding noise-induced hearing loss. The questionnaire includes the frequency of earphones/headphones usage, noise exposure, self-reported hearing conditions and hearing-related lifestyle. This study also measured A-weighted equivalent sound pressure levels of digital audio players that the students have with normal playback volume. The results showed that more than 90% of the subjects use earphones/headphones, and about 50% use them daily. 58% of the subjects use them while commuting, meaning that they listen to music in noisy trains and buses. 16% of the subjects reported that they have experienced hearing problems such as tinnitus symptoms and listening difficulties, but none of them have sought medical advice. The measured sound pressure level varied from 40 to 90 dBA, and 15% of the data was over 80 dBA. The results show the need for showing young people the importance of hearing protection and prevention of noise-induced hearing loss.


1974 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne Marshall ◽  
John F. Brandt

Temporary threshold shift resulting from exposure to one and five toy cap gun pistol shots was investigated using 11 normal-hearing adult subjects and one subject with a noise-induced hearing loss. The subjects fired the cap gun at arm’s length, and absolute thresholds at 4000 Hz were obtained before and after noise exposure by a fixed-frequency Bekesy technique. After exposure to one gunshot, five subjects showed a small TTS, five demonstrated no TTS, and two (including the subject with the hearing loss) exhibited negative TTS. No TTS occurred in any of the subjects after exposure to five shots. It was postulated that the small amount of TTS was due to the unexpectedly low sound pressure level produced by the cap gun and to the contraction of the middle ear muscles in some subjects prior to firing.


1978 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. ORL-125-ORL-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen F. Ryan ◽  
Robert C. Bone

Chinchillas were exposed to a noise band (1,414 to 5,656 Hz, 100-dB sound pressure level [SPL] for one hour) and treated with kanamycin (150 mg/kg a day until hearing loss was noted at 6.0 kHz) either separately, simultaneously, or sequentially. Simultaneous noise and kanamycin resulted in interactive potentiation of threshold shift and cochlear pathologic condition. Kanamycin treatment two months after noise exposure produced similar potentiation. No interaction was seen when noise exposure occurred one month after kanamycin treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (4) ◽  
pp. 2550-2554
Author(s):  
Timothy Van Renterghem ◽  
Pieter Thomas ◽  
Dick Botteldooren

Excessive road traffic noise exposure in (sub)urban parks hinders its restorative function and will negatively impact the number of visitors. Especially in such green environments, noise abatements by natural means, well integrated in the landscape, are the most desired solutions. Although dense vegetation bordering the park or raised berms could come first in mind, local landscape depressions are typically underused. In this work, a case-study of a small suburban park, squeezed in between two major arterial roads, is analyzed. The spatially dependent road traffic noise exposure in the park is assessed in detail by mobile sound pressure level measurements. Local reductions of up to 6-7 dBA are found at landscape depressions of only a few meters deep. It can therefore be concluded that this is an efficient measure and should be added to the environmental noise control toolbox for noise polluted parks.


2020 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. e2017841117
Author(s):  
Yifan Zhang ◽  
Min Zhu ◽  
Yutian Sun ◽  
Binliang Tang ◽  
Guimin Zhang ◽  
...  

The neural mechanisms underlying the impacts of noise on nonauditory function, particularly learning and memory, remain largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that rats exposed postnatally (between postnatal days 9 and 56) to structured noise delivered at a sound pressure level of ∼65 dB displayed significantly degraded hippocampus-related learning and memory abilities. Noise exposure also suppressed the induction of hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP). In parallel, the total or phosphorylated levels of certain LTP-related key signaling molecules in the synapses of the hippocampus were down-regulated. However, no significant changes in stress-related processes were found for the noise-exposed rats. These results in a rodent model indicate that even moderate-level noise with little effect on stress status can substantially impair hippocampus-related learning and memory by altering the plasticity of synaptic transmission. They support the importance of more thoroughly defining the unappreciated hazards of moderately loud noise in modern human environments.


1990 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 570-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. Irvine ◽  
G. Gago

1. Development of models of the manner in which interaural intensity differences (IIDs), the major binaural cue for the azimuthal location of high-frequency sounds, are coded by populations of neurons requires knowledge of the extent to which the IID sensitivity of individual neurons is invariant with changes in sound pressure level (SPL) and other stimulus parameters. To examine this tissue, recordings were obtained from a large sample (n = 458) of neurons with characteristic frequency (CF) greater than 3 kHz in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC) of anesthetized cats. The sensitivity to IIDs and the effects of changes in SPL on this sensitivity were examined in neurons receiving excitatory contralateral input and inhibitory or mixed inhibitory/facilitatory ipsilateral input (EI neurons). 2. The form of an EI neuron's IID sensitivity and the effects of changes in SPL on that sensitivity were found to be determined in part by the characteristics of the neuron's rate-intensity function for monaural contralateral stimulation, and detailed rate-intensity functions were therefore obtained for 91 neurons. Many ICC neurons have nonmonotonic rate-intensity functions, the proportion so classified depending on the criterion of nonmonotonicity employed. 3. IID sensitivity functions for CF tonal stimuli were obtained at one or more intensities for 90 neurons, using a method of generating IIDs that kept the average binaural intensity (ABI) of the stimuli at the two ears constant. In the standard ABI range in which a function was obtained for each unit, the majority of EI neurons (72%) had monotonic (sigmoidal) or near-monotonic IID sensitivity functions. The remainder had nonmonotonic (peaked) IID sensitivity functions, which were attributable either to mixed inhibitory and facilitatory ipsilateral influences or to the fact that the effects of ipsilateral stimulation were superimposed on nonmonotonic effects of changes in intensity at the excitatory ear. 4. IID sensitivity was examined at two or more ABIs (3-5 in most cases) for 40 neurons classified as having monotonic or near-monotonic functions in the standard ABI range and for 7 neurons classified as nonmonotonic. For a small proportion of neurons with monotonic IID sensitivity functions, the form of the function was relatively invariant with changes in ABI. In those monotonic neurons in which the form of the IID sensitivity function varied with changes in ABI, the most common type of variation was that the position of the sloping portion of the function shifted systematically in the direction of larger IIDs favoring the ipsilateral ear as ABI increased.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Razali A ◽  
Othman MS ◽  
Rahman MS ◽  
Misaridin NFI

INTRODUCTION: Recreational noise exposure has become a major threat to the hearing system, and this includes exposure to loud noise during group exercises such as Zumba Fitness, where loud music plays an important role. This study aimed to assess the noise exposure and hearing threshold profile among Zumba Fitness regulars in Kuantan, Malaysia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Noise exposure and hearing profile threshold were measured during Zumba Fitness sessions at a fitness studio in Kuantan, Malaysia from 24th June 2014 to 12th August 2014. Noise exposure was measured using a noise dosimeter for one hour of Zumba Fitness session with a total of nine sessions run by three different instructors while sound level pressure was taken using a sound level meter during ambient, peak session and during cooling down. Thirty participants answered questionnaires and underwent pure tone diagnostic audiometry test at a local clinic for hearing threshold documentation. RESULTS: Some areas of the hall posed higher risks of causing noise-induced hearing loss especially near the amplifiers. There were periods when the hearing level exceeded 115 dBA. Early abnormal pattern could be observed in the hearing profiles of some of the participants to suggest preliminary hearing problems. CONCLUSION: Zumba Fitness regulars have a risk of developing noise-induced hearing loss and preventive steps should be properly addressed as NIHL is permanent and irreversible.


1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 628-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda M. Thibodeau ◽  
Kathryn A. Saucedo

In the absence of national or international electroacoustic standards for the evaluation of Frequency Modulated (FM) amplification systems, it becomes important to know the variability one may expect across similar models. Evaluation of thirty FM systems of the same model obtained from three different educational sites was performed to determine the variability that may occur as a result of the receiver, lapel microphone, or neckloop. There was a range as great as 20 dB in high frequency average saturation sound pressure level and equivalent input noise across receivers, lapel microphones, and neckloops. These results highlight the need for regular electroacoustic monitoring of not only the FM transmitter and receiver, but also the individual components, such as the lapel microphone and the neckloop.


2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Pawlaczyk-Łuszczyńska ◽  
Małgorzata Zamojska ◽  
Adam Dudarewicz ◽  
Kamil Zaborowski

Abstract The overall purpose of this study was to assess hearing status in professional orchestral musicians. Standard pure-tone audiometry (PTA) and transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) were per- formed in 126 orchestral musicians. Occupational and non-occupational risk factors for noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) were identified in questionnaire inquiry. Data on sound pressure levels produced by various groups of instruments were also collected and analyzed. Measured hearing threshold levels (HTLs) were compared with the theoretical predictions calculated according to ISO 1999 (1990). Musicians were exposed to excessive sound at weekly noise exposure levels of for 81-100 dB (mean: 86.6±4.0 dB) for 5-48 years (mean: 24.0±10.7 years). Most of them (95%) had hearing corresponds to grade 0 of hearing impairment (mean hearing threshold level at 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz lower than 25 dB). However, high frequency notched audiograms typical for noise-induced hearing loss were found in 35% of cases. Simultaneously, about 35% of audiograms showed typical for NIHL high frequency notches (mainly occurring at 6000 Hz). When analyzing the impact of age, gender and noise exposure on hearing test results both PTA and TEOAE consistently showed better hearing in females vs. males, younger vs. older musicians. But higher exposure to orchestral noise was not associated with poorer hearing tests results. The musician’s audiometric hearing threshold levels were poorer than equivalent non-noise-exposed population and better (at 3000 and 4000 Hz) than expected for noise-exposed population according to ISO 1999 (1990). Thus, music impairs hearing of orchestral musicians, but less than expected from noise exposure.


1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne J. Van Tasell

Modern hearing aids permit adjustment of a number of electroacoustic parameters, among them frequency response, saturation sound pressure level, and various aspects of compression. Relatively little is known, however, about how the electroacoustic characteristics of hearing aids affect the information-bearing properties of speech. Even less is known about how hearing aids might alleviate or exacerbate the effects of impaired hearing. This article reviews current knowledge in three areas: (a) characteristics of mild/moderate hearing loss, (b) informationbearing aspects of speech, and (c) the relation between electroacoustic characteristics of hearing aids and the speech signal. Concluding suggestions are made regarding the implications of the current data for selecting hearing-aid characteristics.


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