Effects of headphones on hearing acuity of students of Ahmadu Bello university, Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

Hearing is one of thefive senses; it is a complex process of picking up sound and attaching meaningto it. Exposure to loud noise can lead to hearing impairment. Personal audioelectronics such as MP3 players, iPods and other music devices today can producesounds up to 120 decibels, equivalent to a sound level at a rock concert. Thisstudy was designed to investigate the effects of headphones on the hearingacuity of students of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. To achieve thisaim, male and female students of the university within the ages of 19-31 wereused. A total of 96 students both male and female were divided into two groups,A and B, each group comprising of 48 subjects. Group A (study group), comprisedof students who are users of headphones, while group B (control group)comprised of students who are non-users of headphones. Questionnaires wereadministered to check indices such as their age, sex, history of hearingimpairment, frequency and duration of usage of head phones and so on. The resultsobtained from this study showed that there was a significant increase(p<0.05) in the hearing threshold in the left ear of 18.75 ± 5.58 whencompared to control group (8.19 ± 3.19). There was also a significant increase(p<0.05) in the hearing threshold in the right ear of 20.26 ± 5.47 in thestudy group when compared to control group (8.45 ± 3.33). It can be concludedthat there was a decrease in the hearing acuity of users of headphones. It istherefore advisable to avoid or minimize the duration of exposure to directnoise source which may to lead to early onset of hearing impairment.