Study Presentation

Introduction • Rapid technological advances have revolutionized personal

listening devices, leading to an electronics market dominated by Walkman, iPod and other brands of MP3 players.

• 91% of all people on earth have a mobile phone. • India is the second largest mobile phone user in the world.

70.08% of total population of India uses mobile phones. In Kerala and Lakshadweep alone there are 34.51 million mobile phone users3.

• Nowadays even mobile phones come equipped with earphones and cater a variety of functions like playing music, videos, movies and also games.

• Most of the MP3 players today can produce sounds up to 120 decibel

• At that level, hearing loss can occur after only about an hour and 15 minutes.

• The use of earbuds (earphones) placed directly into the ear can amplify the sound signals by as much as six to nine dB

• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) reported 10.7% of population suffering from hearing impairment is due to earphone use

• Serious injuries to pedestrians listening to headphones have more than tripled

• Researchers reviewed 116 accident cases from 2004 to 2011 in which injured pedestrians were documented to be using headphones

• In addition to the structural damage personal listening devices can cause to the inner ear, these devices leads to spending more time in isolation than interacting with others. This can cause social and emotional problems for children

TITLE OF THE STUDY

Patterns of usage of personal listening devices (PLDs) and its effect on hearing acuity among degree students.

Purpose of the study Identify the patterns of usage of

personal listening devices and its effect on hearing acuity of degree students and to create awareness regarding the potential harmful effects of listening to loud noises.

Statement of the problem

A study to identify the patterns of usage of personal listening devices and its effect on hearing acuity among degree students of a selected college in Kozhikode district.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

• Assess the patterns of usage of personal listening devices among degree students

• Assess the hearing acuity of students.

• Assess the effect of Personal Listening Device (PLD) use on hearing acuity among students.

• Find out the association between hearing acuity and selected variables.

ASSUMPTIONS

• The use of PLD’s is widespread among degree students

• Continuous use of PLD’s may adversely affect the hearing acuity.

Hypotheses • H1: There will be significant

association between hearing acuity and patterns of use of personal listening devices among students.

• H2: There will be significant association between hearing acuity and selected socio personal variables of students

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Literature review was done in the following areas

• Patterns of use of personal listening devices 14 literatures.

• Noise induced hearing loss from recreational noise exposure.7 literatures.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

• Research approach Non- experimental approach.• Research design Descriptive survey design.

• Schematic representation of the study.

• Variables : Patterns of usage of personal listening devices among degree students,Effect of patterns of usage of personal listening devices on hearing acuity of degree students.

Inclusion criteria• Degree students who are willing to

participate in the study.• Degree students who can read and

write English.

Exclusion criteria• Degree students who are not

available during the period of study.• Degree students previously

diagnosed as having hearing impairment

TOOL 1 • Questionnaire -Section I Sample characteristics

consisted of 11 items-Section II

-II A : 8 items , regarding the practices in use of PLDs - II B : 6 items regarding the volume of use of PLDs - II C : 3 items regarding the duration of use of PLDs for various purposes

• TOOL II -Audiometry test

-The ability to hear between the 0-15dB is considered to be normal hearing acuity.

- The threshold level between 16-40dB indicates mild hearing loss.

- between 41- 70dB moderate hearing loss and

- above 70dB severe hearing loss.

• TOOL III – Oto Acoustic Emission Test

- Present- Absent

Analysis and interpretation

Figure 4. Distribution of sample based on

frequency of use of personal listening devices.

Never Rarely Frequently Always0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1.00%

50.00%

32.50%

16.50%

percentage

Frequency of use

Perc

enta

ge

Table 6Distribution of sample based on type of

personal listening device used.Type of PLDs Frequency Percentage

Earbuds 113 56.5

Canal hones 24 12.0

Bluetooth devices 4 2.0

Over the ear headphones

33 16.5

Headphones and earbuds

14 7.0

Earbuds and canal phones

8 4.0

Headphones, earphones and canal phones

4 2.0

Table 11Distribution of sample based on volume

of use of personal listening devicesVOLUME OF USE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Use at maximum volume

Never 39 19.5

Rarely 78 39.0

Frequently 48 24.0

Always 35 17.5

Figure 7. Distribution of sample based on percentage of volume of use of

personal listening devices.

11.50%

28.00%

35.00%

25.50%

0-25%26-50%51-75%76-100%

Table 12Distribution of sample based on how long they have been using personal

listening devicesDuration of using a

PLD

Frequency Percentage

<1 month 20 10.0

1-6 months 37 18.5

6 months – 1 year 31 15.5

>1 year 112 56.0

Table 14Distribution of samples based on

hearing acuity as measured by audiometry

Hearing acuity Frequency Percentage

Normal 192 96

Mild hearing loss 8 4

Table 15Distribution of samples based hearing

acuity as measured by Oto Acoustic Emission (OAE

OAE Frequency Percentage

Present 196 98

Absent 4 2

Table 16Distribution of sample based on hearing

acuity based on questionnaire

Hearing acuity Frequency Percentage

Normal 169 84.5

Abnormal 31 15.5

Figure 8. Distribution of samples based on hearing acuity.

Normal Abnormal 0

102030405060708090

82.5

17.5

Hearing acuity

Perc

enta

ge

Table 15Association between patterns of use of personal listening devices and hearing

acuity.Variable Chi square value p value

Frequency of use of PLDs 9.675 0.022*

Volume at which PLD

is used

18.664 0.001***

Duration of use of PLDs 11.942 0.008*

Use of PLDs

for telephonic conversation/day 7.603 0.050*

Use of PLDs for purposes other

than telephonic conversation/

day

4.000 0.261

Results and discussions • Mobile phone is the most commonly used

device (63%) in relation to the listening habits.

• 32.5% of the samples frequently use personal listening devices and 16.5% always use personal listening devices

• Most commonly used PLD is ear bud type (56.5%).

• Majority of the samples used PLDs in both ears (97%).

• A mild change in perception of hearing was experienced by 70.5 % of the sample and 1% experienced severe changes in the perception of their hearing.

• Minimal hearing loss as measured by puretone audiometry and distortion product oto acoustic emission test was found in 3.5% of the sample.

• A total of 43.5 % of the sample had abnormal hearing acuity

Contd…

Limitations • As the study sample is limited to 200

and the sampling technique was conveninent, generalization of the findings is limited.

• As the study is retrospective the actual effect cannot be assessed.

Thank You