Correlation between Hearing Thresholds and Habitual use of Headphones/Earphones among Students of Tertiary Institutions in Northwestern Nigeria

Background: There has been ongoing concern that prolonged use of headphones/earphones that amplify the sound intensity can lead  to noise induced hearing loss. This study therefore aimed at determining the correlation between hearing thresholds and habitual usage  of headphones/earphones among undergraduates of tertiary institutions in Northwestern Nigeria. Method: A cross-sectional study was  conducted on young adults, who are undergraduate students of tertiary institutions, to assess the hearing thresholds of individuals who  frequently use headphones or earphones. Ethical clearance was obtained, and participants who met specific criteria were selected.  Amultistage sampling technique was used, and 272 participants (representing 544 ears) with equal number of controls were recruited.  They completed questionnaires and underwent otoscopic examination and pure tone audiometry (PTA). Those having wax or foreign  bodies in the ears had it removed before performing PTA. The data was recorded and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Frequency tables and variable relationships were examined to determine significance, which was set at a p-value of <0.05. Result: The study involved 272  users of headphones/earphones (representing 544 ears) and an equal number of age- and sex-matched controls. The participants' ages  ranged between 18 and 33, with 50.4% being male. The pure tone average among the headphones/earphones users and the controls  ranged from 11.0 – 43.8dB, with a mean of 20.2±6.0 and 10.6 – 43.2dB, with a mean of 19.6 ± 4.5, respectively. More than half, 280/544  ears (51.5%) of the participants used headphones/earphones for over 4 years, and of these, 222/280 ears (79.3%) used them for 1 – 4  hours daily. Moderate volume was the preferred listening mode for 63.2% of the users. A moderate positive correlation was observed between hearing thresholds and hours of headphone/earphone use, and a weak positive correlation between hearing thresholds and  preferred level of loudness (r = 0.290, p < 0.0001) while no correlation was found between hearing threshold and long-term use (r = 0.003,  p = 0.937). Conclusion: This study suggests that individuals who use headphones or earphones for prolonged periods of listening hours  daily or at higher listening levels tend to have poorer hearing thresholds.