Gender Difference in Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response among the Headphone Users

R Latha ,A K Jayamala ,U Karthika Priyadharshini ,M Shyamala

doi:10.37506/ijop.v8i2.1249

Abstract

About 5.6 billion people use mobile phones worldwide. India ranks second position with about 885 millionusers. Apart from its function of making calls, listening to music has become one of the popular functions,the sound delivered via headphones at high intensities. The purpose was to assess the possible deleteriouseffects of headphone usage on Brain stem Evoked Response Audiometry (BERA) in both genders. The studyinvolved the recording of BERA using 30 volunteers between the age group of 18-21 years. They were dividedinto 2 groups. Group 1: Headphone users 3hrs/day. Both the groupscomprised both genders. Data were compared by unpaired Student’s t test and one-way ANOVA. There wasno significant difference in peak latencies of waves I to V and inter-peak latencies between genders on rightand left ear of headphone users, except wave V (p<0.01)on the left ear of headphone users with latencybeing more in males than in females. We conclude from the observation that prolonged headphone usagehas a negative influence on brain stem auditory evoked potentials and there was no remarkable differencebetween the genders.

Highlights

Headphone usage is drastically increased nowadays with about 173 million users, especially among teenagers[1]
The mobile phones have become indispensable as communication tools; there is only limited information exists about the interaction between headphone usage and cognitive functions
Studies showed that chronic exposure to sound more than 90 d B can result in permanent hearing loss[6] an MP3 player can effectively produce a sound of 120 d B, which is further amplified as much as 6-9 d B, while it is being used with an earphone

Summary

Introduction

Headphone usage is drastically increased nowadays with about 173 million users, especially among teenagers[1]. The electromagnetic fields acquire importance due to the prevalence of symptoms like warmth, headache and fatigue[2]. Most of the students have cultivated a habit of listening to earphone music. This may lead to music-induced hearing loss[3]. The threshold value is 85 d B, above which prolonged exposure to music for ≥ 8 hours causes permanent hearing loss

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion