More than one billion teens and young people are potentially at risk of hearing loss due to their use of headphones and earbuds, and exposure to loud music at concerts, according to new research.
Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina said the findings, determined via a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, indicate that governments around the world need to urgently prioritise 'safe listening' policies to safeguard aural health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates over 430 million people worldwide currently have disabling hearing loss. Young people are particularly vulnerable due to their use of personal listening devices (PLDs) like smartphones, headphones and earbuds, and attendance at loud music venues, amid poor regulatory enforcement.
Previously published research suggests that users of PLDs often choose volumes as high as 105 dB, while average sound levels at entertainment venues range from 104 to 112 dB, exceeding permissible levels (80 dB for adults; 75 dB for children) even if for very short periods of time.
The researchers wanted to gauge the prevalence of unsafe listening practices among teens and young adults to create a global estimate of the numbers who could be at risk of hearing loss, with the aim of informing evidence-based policy to safeguard aural health.
They trawled research databases for relevant studies published in English, French, Spanish and Russian, involving 12-to-34-year-olds and reporting on objectively measured device output levels and length of exposure.
Thirty-three studies, corresponding to data from 35 records and 19,046 participants, were included; 17 records focused on PLD use and 18 focused on loud entertainment venues.
The researchers estimated the number of people globally who could be at risk of hearing loss by considering the estimated global population of 12-to-34-year-olds in 2022 (2.8 billion), as well as the best estimates of exposure to unsafe listening practices from PLDs or loud entertainment venues derived from the systematic review.
The study found that 24 percent of teens and young adults using headphones or earbuds listen at unsafe levels, while 48 percent have attended loud entertainment venues.
Based on these figures, the researchers estimate that with 2.8 billion young people around the world, between 0.67 to 1.35 billion could be at risk of hearing loss.
"There is an urgent need for governments, industry, and civil society to prioritise global hearing loss prevention by promoting safe listening practices," the researchers concluded.
The full results of the study have been published in the open-access journal BMJ Global Health.
