Music – A double edged sword for students in COVID scenario

Background: Hearing loss is often thought of as a natural phenomenon of the aging process. However younger people with repeated usage of ear phone music are reporting nowadays with hearing impairment and more during this COVID pandemic era. In today’s society, these devices are indispensable and are part of day‑to‑day life and because of the restriction on outdoor movement in COVID pandemic more and more people are reliant on ear phone music to allay boredom. Hence, this study was conducted to create awareness regarding prolonged exposure to loud noise either through an MP3 player or cell phone music. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was done compromising 400 students from Shri Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences from March 2020 to December 2020. They were divided into four groups using a questionnaire, Group A comprising 100 students who had a habit of listening to music through ear phones at least 2 h a day, Group B comprising 100 students who are used to earphone music less than 1 h per day and Group C comprising of 100 students who very occasionally use ear phones, but hear music mostly through speakers and Group D comprising of 100 students who are not used to ear phone music. All the 400 students studied were attending online classes as per the college schedule which constituted 3-4 hours daily. All the groups were subjected to pure tone audiometry when they reported back to their regular offline classes as the pandemic reduced in January 2021 and the audiogram obtained. Results and Observations: The study revealed high frequency hearing loss in 6% of Group A and 2% in Group B; whereas, in there were no hearing impairment in Groups C and D indicating a significant role of prolonged ear phone music as a cause of high frequency hearing loss in students. The thin percentage and absence of hearing loss in Groups B, C, and D suggests the impact of the duration of exposure also has a role in the pathology. Conclusion: This study proves beyond doubt that the prolonged usage of loud ear phone music is harmful to the ears and also the COVID induced movement restriction precipitated the indiscriminate use of ear phone music which further increased the causation.

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The Relevance of the High Frequency Audiometry in Tinnitus Patients with Normal Hearing in Conventional Pure-Tone Audiometry

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2015/302515 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Veronika Vielsmeier ◽

Astrid Lehner ◽

Jürgen Strutz ◽

Thomas Steffens ◽

Peter M. Kreuzer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

High Frequency ◽

Pure Tone ◽

Pure Tone Audiometry ◽

Normal Hearing ◽

High Frequency Hearing Loss ◽

Additional Information ◽

Tinnitus Severity ◽

Hearing Thresholds ◽

High Frequency Audiometry

Objective. The majority of tinnitus patients suffer from hearing loss. But a subgroup of tinnitus patients show normal hearing thresholds in the conventional pure-tone audiometry (125 Hz–8 kHz). Here we explored whether the results of the high frequency audiometry (>8 kHz) provide relevant additional information in tinnitus patients with normal conventional audiometry by comparing those with normal and pathological high frequency audiometry with respect to their demographic and clinical characteristics.Subjects and Methods. From the database of the Tinnitus Clinic at Regensburg we identified 75 patients with normal hearing thresholds in the conventional pure-tone audiometry. We contrasted these patients with normal and pathological high-frequency audiogram and compared them with respect to gender, age, tinnitus severity, pitch, laterality and duration, comorbid symptoms and triggers for tinnitus onset.Results. Patients with pathological high frequency audiometry were significantly older and had higher scores on the tinnitus questionnaires in comparison to patients with normal high frequency audiometry. Furthermore, there was an association of high frequency audiometry with the laterality of tinnitus.Conclusion. In tinnitus patients with normal pure-tone audiometry the high frequency audiometry provides useful additional information. The association between tinnitus laterality and asymmetry of the high frequency audiometry suggests a potential causal role for the high frequency hearing loss in tinnitus etiopathogenesis.

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A KCNQ4 c.546C>G Genetic Variant Associated with Late Onset Non-Syndromic Hearing Loss in a Taiwanese Population

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes12111711 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 1711

Author(s):

Ting-Ting Yen ◽

I-Chieh Chen ◽

Men-Wei Hua ◽

Chia-Yi Wei ◽

Kai-Hsiang Shih ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Hearing Impairment ◽

Late Onset ◽

Clinical Manifestations ◽

Pure Tone Audiometry ◽

The Elderly ◽

High Frequency Hearing Loss ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Syndromic Hearing Loss ◽

Precision Medicine Initiative

Clinical presentation is heterogeneous for autosomal dominant nonsyndromic hearing loss (ADNSHL). Variants of KCNQ4 gene is a common genetic factor of ADNSHL. Few studies have investigated the association between hearing impairment and the variant c.546C>G of KCNQ4. Here, we investigated the phenotype and clinical manifestations of the KCNQ4 variant. Study subjects were selected from the participants of the Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative. In total, we enrolled 12 individuals with KCNQ4 c.546C>G carriers and 107 non-carriers, and performed pure tone audiometry (PTA) test and phenome-wide association (PheWAS) analysis for the patients. We found that c.546C>G variant was related to an increased risk of hearing loss. All patients with c.546C>G variant were aged >65 years and had sensorineural and high frequency hearing loss. Of these patients, a third (66.7%) showed moderate and progressive hearing loss, 41.7% complained of tinnitus and 16.7% complained of vertigo. Additionally, we found a significant association between KCNQ4 c.546C>G variant, aortic aneurysm, fracture of lower limb and polyneuropathy in diabetes. KCNQ4 c.546C>G is likely a potentially pathogenic variant of ADNSHL in the elderly population. Genetic counseling, annual audiogram and early assistive listening device intervention are highly recommended to prevent profound hearing impairment in this patient group.

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Reduction in high-frequency hearing loss following technical modifications to microvascular decompression for hemifacial spasm

Journal of Neurosurgery ◽

10.3171/2014.12.jns141699 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 123 (4) ◽

pp. 1059-1064 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Parthasarathy Thirumala ◽

Andrew M. Frederickson ◽

Jeffrey Balzer ◽

Donald Crammond ◽

Miguel E. Habeych ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Hemifacial Spasm ◽

Microvascular Decompression ◽

High Frequency ◽

Auditory Evoked Potentials ◽

Pure Tone Audiometry ◽

Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials ◽

Vestibulocochlear Nerve ◽

High Frequency Hearing Loss ◽

Technical Modifications

OBJECT Microvascular decompression is a safe and effective procedure to treat hemifacial spasm, but the operation poses some risk to the patient’s hearing. While severe sensorineural hearing loss across all frequencies occurs at a low rate in experienced hands, a recent study suggests that as many as one-half of patients who undergo this procedure may experience ipsilateral high-frequency hearing loss (HFHL), and as many as one-quarter may experience contralateral HFHL. While it has been suggested that drill-related noise may account for this finding, this study was designed to examine the effect of a number of techniques designed to protect the vestibulocochlear nerve from operative manipulation on the incidence of HFHL. METHODS Pure-tone audiometry was performed both preoperatively and postoperatively on 67 patients who underwent microvascular decompression for hemifacial spasm during the study period. A change of greater than 10 dB at either 4 kHz or 8 kHz was considered to be HFHL. Additionally, the authors analyzed intraoperative brainstem auditory evoked potentials from this patient cohort. RESULTS The incidence of ipsilateral HFHL in this cohort was 7.4%, while the incidence of contralateral HFHL was 4.5%. One patient (1.5%; also included in the HFHL group) experienced an ipsilateral nonserviceable hearing loss. CONCLUSIONS The reduced incidence of HFHL in this study suggests that technical modifications including performing the procedure without the use of fixed retraction may greatly reduce, but not eliminate, the occurrence of HFHL following microvascular decompression for hemifacial spasm.

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The incidence of high-frequency hearing loss after microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia, glossopharyngeal neuralgia, or geniculate neuralgia

Journal of Neurosurgery ◽

10.3171/2014.10.jns141101 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 123 (6) ◽

pp. 1500-1506 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Parthasarathy Thirumala ◽

Kristin Meigh ◽

Navya Dasyam ◽

Preethi Shankar ◽

Kanika R. K. Sarma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Trigeminal Neuralgia ◽

Microvascular Decompression ◽

High Frequency ◽

Pure Tone ◽

Pure Tone Audiometry ◽

Contralateral Side ◽

Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia ◽

Ipsilateral Side ◽

High Frequency Hearing Loss

OBJECT The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and discuss the pathogenesis of high-frequency hearing loss (HFHL) after microvascular decompression (MVD) for trigeminal neuralgia (TGN), glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GPN), or geniculate neuralgia (GN). METHODS The authors analyzed preoperative and postoperative audiogram data and brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) from 93 patients with TGN, 6 patients with GPN, and 8 patients with GN who underwent MVD. Differences in pure tone audiometry > 10 dB at frequencies of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 kHz were calculated preoperatively and postoperatively for both the ipsilateral and the contralateral sides. Intraoperative monitoring records were analyzed and compared with the incidence of HFHL, which was defined as a change in pure tone audiometry > 10 dB at frequencies of 4 and 8 kHz. RESULTS The incidence of HFHL was 30.84% on the side ipsilateral to the surgery and 20.56% on the contralateral side. Of the 47 patients with HFHL, 20 had conductive hearing loss, and 2 experienced nonserviceable hearing loss after the surgery. The incidences of HFHL on the ipsilateral side at 4 and 8 kHz were 17.76% and 25.23%, respectively, and 8.41% and 15.89%, respectively, on the contralateral side. As the audiometric frequency increased, the number of patients with hearing loss increased. No significant postoperative difference was found between patients with and without HFHL in intraoperative BAEP waveforms. Sex, age, and affected side were not associated with an increase in the incidence of hearing loss. CONCLUSIONS High-frequency hearing loss occurred after MVD for TGN, GPN, or GN, and the greatest incidence occurred on the ipsilateral side. This hearing loss may be a result of drill-induced noise and/or transient loss of cerebrospinal fluid during the course of the procedure. Changes in intraoperative BAEP waveforms were not useful in predicting HFHL after MVD. Repeated postoperative audiological examinations may be useful in assessing the prognosis of HFHL.

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Absence of Relationship between Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroups and Cisplatin-Induced Hearing Loss

International Journal of Otolaryngology ◽

10.1155/2017/5185268 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

D. Graterol ◽

C. Mir ◽

C. Garcia-Vaquero ◽

I. Braña ◽

A. N. Pardo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

High Frequency ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Pure Tone Audiometry ◽

High Frequency Hearing Loss ◽

High Frequencies ◽

Observational Cohort ◽

Chemotherapeutic Treatment ◽

Design And Methods ◽

Determining Factor

Background. Many drugs used for cancer chemotherapy produce reactive oxygen species, thus leading to various complications including nephrotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, and ototoxicity. Objective. We have provided a haplogroup analysis of a cohort of cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and compared factors associated with associated hearing loss. Study Design and Methods. This observational cohort study includes a pure-tone audiometry of the patients who underwent chemotherapeutic treatment. Medical history, presence of risk factors for hearing loss, toxic habits, and association with haplogroups have been determined. Results. 40% of patients developed hearing loss after administration of cisplatin, which was bilateral and symmetrical and of high frequencies. The most frequent haplogroup was H with a slight overexpression of groups V and K and a low frequency of groups J and T. No association of the haplogroup types with the hearing loss has been found; however age was revealed as an important determining factor. Conclusions. Ototoxicity caused by cisplatin is manifested as bilateral, symmetrical, and predominantly high frequency hearing loss. Although we did not find a strong correlation of haplogroups with ototoxicity, our results revealed the existence of a risk group of elderly patients over 60, which are more susceptible to hearing loss induced by cisplatin, than young adults, regardless of preexisting hearing loss.

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Marked High-Frequency Hearing Loss in Children: A Problem in Early Identification

Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders ◽

10.1044/jshd.4203.335 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 42 (3) ◽

pp. 335-339 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ralph O. Coleman ◽

Rodney O. Pelson

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Young Children ◽

Hearing Impairment ◽

Early Identification ◽

High Frequency ◽

Pure Tone ◽

High Frequency Hearing Loss ◽

Special Analysis ◽

High Pass

The limitations of noisemakers and speech in detecting marked high-frequency hearing impairment in young children are illustrated by special analysis. The use of high-pass filtering of noisemakers and speech at 6000 Hz and above is recommended as one practical means of identifying losses of this type in children too young for voluntary pure-tone testing.

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Audiological evaluation in between patients with type 1 tympanoplasty alone and type 1 tympanoplasty with cortical mastoidectomy

International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery ◽

10.18203/issn.2454-5929.ijohns20175495 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 45

Author(s):

K. Mallikarjuna Swamy ◽

Arati Ganiger

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Pure Tone Audiometry ◽

Type I ◽

Hearing Improvement ◽

Temporalis Fascia ◽

Type 1 Tympanoplasty ◽

Postoperative Assessment ◽

Group A ◽

Group B

Background: Evaluation of success of tympanoplasty depends on various host and surgical factors has been subject of interest for many years and still continues to be challenge. Methods: Present study was undertaken to observe results of type I tympanoplasty using tragal cartilage and perichondrium with temporalis fascia grafts using endomeatal and postauricular approach. Results: Study group comprises of 30 patients in Group A and B operated by tympanoplasty type I by endomeatal and postauricular techniques. Success was 96.3% in Group A and 94.7% in Group B for closure of membrane perforation. During postoperative period average time taken for wound healing was 23 days in Group A and 35 days in Group B. Preoperative and postoperative assessment of hearing performed with pure tone audiometry revealed an average hearing loss of 36.50 dB in Group A before surgery and postoperative assessment at end of 1 year revealed hearing improvement of 14.23 dB. In Group B preoperative assessment revealed hearing loss of 38.23 dB lowered to 15.12 dB after surgery. When hearing improvement in both groups were compared preoperatively and postoperatively, in Group A there was improvement of 22.27 dB while in Group B was 23.11 dB. The hearing improvements in both the groups appear to be similar when the results were compared. In present study overall success rate was 89.7% which is comparable to outcome of surgery performed with post auricular approach with temporalis fascia graft which is 91.3%. When postoperative complications were studied it was observed that Group A had fewer numbers of complications as over Group B which was documented in Table 2. Conclusions: Success of tympanoplasty depends on several host and surgical factors. Tragal perichondrium appears as proven alternate for closure of perforation of tympanic membrane. Cosmetically endomeatal approach appears promising over post auricular approach.

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Marked High-Frequency Hearing Loss in Children: A Problem in Early Identification

Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders ◽

10.1044/jshd.4301.110 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 110-110

Author(s):

Ralph O. Coleman ◽

Rodney O. Pelson

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Spectral Analysis ◽

Young Children ◽

Hearing Impairment ◽

Early Identification ◽

High Frequency ◽

Second Line ◽

High Frequency Hearing Loss

In the August 1977 issue, the article by Ralph O. Coleman and Rodney O. Pelson, “Marked High-Frequency Hearing Loss in Children: A Problem in Early Identification,” contains an error. In the second line of the abstract, the word “spectral” should be substituted for the word “special.” The sentence should read, “The limitations of noisemakers and speech in detecting marked high-frequency hearing impairment in young children are illustrated by spectral analysis.”

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Vocal Biomarkers of Mild-to-Moderate Hearing Loss in Children and Adults: Voiceless Sibilants

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2018_jslhr-h-17-0460 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 61 (11) ◽

pp. 2814-2826 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andrea L. Pittman ◽

Ayoub Daliri ◽

Lauren Meadows

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Speech Perception ◽

Speech Production ◽

Auditory Feedback ◽

High Frequency ◽

Spectral Characteristics ◽

Objective Measure ◽

Hearing Level ◽

High Frequency Hearing Loss ◽

The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to determine if an objective measure of speech production could serve as a vocal biomarker for the effects of high-frequency hearing loss on speech perception. It was hypothesized that production of voiceless sibilants is governed sufficiently by auditory feedback that high-frequency hearing loss results in subtle but significant shifts in the spectral characteristics of these sibilants.MethodSibilant production was examined in individuals with mild to moderately severe congenital (22 children; 8–17 years old) and acquired (23 adults; 55–80 years old) hearing losses. Measures of hearing level (pure-tone average thresholds at 4 and 8 kHz), speech perception (detection of nonsense words within sentences), and speech production (spectral center of gravity [COG] for /s/ and /ʃ/) were obtained in unaided and aided conditions.ResultsFor both children and adults, detection of nonsense words increased significantly as hearing thresholds improved. Spectral COG for /ʃ/ was unaffected by hearing loss in both listening conditions, whereas the spectral COG for /s/ significantly decreased as high-frequency hearing loss increased. The distance in spectral COG between /s/ and /ʃ/ decreased significantly with increasing hearing level. COG distance significantly predicted nonsense-word detection in children but not in adults.ConclusionsAt least one aspect of speech production (voiceless sibilants) is measurably affected by high-frequency hearing loss and is related to speech perception in children. Speech production did not predict speech perception in adults, suggesting a more complex relationship between auditory feedback and feedforward mechanisms with age. Even so, these results suggest that this vocal biomarker may be useful for identifying the presence of high-frequency hearing loss in adults and children and for predicting the impact of hearing loss in children.

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Hearing impairment in patients of hypothyroidism in sub Himalayan region

International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery ◽

10.18203/issn.2454-5929.ijohns20203202 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (8) ◽

pp. 1494

Author(s):

Vikasdeep Gupta ◽

Sunder Singh Dogra ◽

Pardeep Bansal ◽

Kuldeep Thakur ◽

Vidhu Sharma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Hearing Impairment ◽

High Frequency ◽

Otoacoustic Emissions ◽

Pure Tone Audiometry ◽

Transluminal Angioplasty ◽

Prospective Clinical Study ◽

Thyroid Function Tests ◽

Distortion Product ◽

Serum T3

Background: The objective of the study was to assess the hearing impairment in patients of hypothyroidism.Methods: A prospective clinical study has done at a referral centre included 33 diagnosed patients of hypothyroidism in the age group of 15 to 65 years, fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria who attended the outpatient department. The diagnosis of hypothyroidism was confirmed by thyroid function tests i.e., serum T3, T4 and TSH levels while hearing assessment was done using tuning fork tests, pure tone audiometry, impedance audiometry and otoacoustic emissions. Hearing impairment was measured in decibels of hearing loss, or dB HL and graded as mild, moderate, moderately severe, severe, or profound. Results: Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty showed 42.7% of the patients had high frequency sensorineural type of hearing loss. The air bone gap was not significant. On tympanometry, all the patients had type A graph and distortion product otoacoustic emissionss in all patients were pass.Conclusions: Acquired hypothyroidism affects primarily high frequency hearing thresholds causing high frequency sensorineural hearing loss, with little or no effect on lower frequencies.

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