Attitudes towards Safe Listening Measures in Entertainment Venues: Results from an International Survey among Young Venue-Goers

Background: Sustained exposure to excess noise in recreational settings is among the main causes of hearing loss among young adults worldwide. Within a global effort to develop standards for safe listening in entertainment venues, this study aims at identifying modifiable factors (knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs), which can hinder or facilitate the acceptance of safe listening measures in public venues among young venue-goers. Methods: An online questionnaire was developed inspired by the Health Belief Model. It was divided into five sections: (i) socio-demographics (ii) listening habits, (iii) experiences with loud music, (iv) knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs, and (v) willingness to change. Participants were recruited through social media. Results: 2264 individuals aged 16–35 completed the questionnaire. Most visited entertainment venues relatively infrequently, with the majority of them only visiting once per month or less. Nevertheless, most reported having experienced the negative consequences of listening to loud music. Overall, most people were favorable towards preventive measures, especially quiet areas. Conclusion: Our findings stress the urge to address the issue of safe listening in public venues and support an approach based on the introduction of standards. Moreover, they provide us with information on key factors to be considered when introducing and communicating preventive measures in public entertainment venues.

Patterns of noise exposure and prevalence of hearing loss amongst Cape Town Minstrel Carnival musicians

Background: Cape Town Minstrel Carnival is one of the oldest and most authentic indigenous New Year’s customs in South Africa. Musicians who perform at this carnival are exposed to excessively loud music and therefore at a risk of acquiring noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).Objectives: This study aimed to determine patterns of exposure to loud music and prevalence of hearing loss amongst Cape Town Minstrel Carnival musicians.Method: A descriptive, observational exploratory survey design was used and 43 participants (21 males and 22 females; mean age, 21 ± 9 years) took part in this study. Sound level measurements were conducted to assess musicians’ sound exposure during rehearsals and performances. All participants underwent the following audiological test battery at least 2 h before music exposure: Case history, otoscopic examination, tympanometry, pure tone audiometry and distortion products otoacoustic emission (DPOAE).Results: Average noise levels recorded were 86 dBA during rehearsals and 98.7 dBA at performances and average durations of exposure were 240 and 10 min at rehearsals and performances, respectively. One out of 43 (1/43) participants presented with sensorineural hearing loss. Audiometric results of the remaining participants were normal and did not show a pattern suggestive of NIHL. A high proportion of participants (21/43) reported experiencing tinnitus.Conclusion: Despite being exposed to high levels of noise, there was a low prevalence of hearing loss amongst these musicians. However, a high proportion of them reported tinnitus, which could be an indication that they were at a high risk of NIHL from the music that they played.

Loud Music and Leisure Noise Is a Common Cause of Chronic Hearing Loss, Tinnitus and Hyperacusis

High sound levels capable of permanently damaging the ear are experienced not only in factories and war zones but in concert halls, nightclubs, sports stadiums, and many other leisure environments. This review summarizes evidence that loud music and other forms of “leisure noise” are common causes of noise-induced hearing loss, tinnitus, and hyperacusis, even if audiometric thresholds initially remain within clinically normal limits. Given the huge global burden of preventable noise-induced hearing loss, noise limits should be adopted in a much broader range of settings, and education to promote hearing conservation should be a higher public health priority.

Phenomenon of music-induced opening of the blood-brain barrier in healthy mice

Music plays a more important role in our life than just being an entertainment. For example, it can be used as an anti-anxiety therapy of human and animals. However, the unsafe listening of loud music triggers hearing loss in millions of young people and professional musicians (rock, jazz and symphony orchestra) owing to exposure to damaging sound levels using personal audio devices or at noisy entertainment venues including nightclubs, discotheques, bars and concerts. Therefore, it is important to understand how loud music affects us. In this pioneering study on healthy mice, we discover that loud rock music below the safety threshold causes opening of the blood-brain barrier (OBBB), which plays a vital role in protecting the brain from viruses, bacteria and toxins. We clearly demonstrate that listening to loud music during 2 h in an intermittent adaptive regime is accompanied by delayed (1 h after music exposure) and short-lasting to (during 1–4 h) OBBB to low and high molecular weight compounds without cochlear and brain impairments. We present the systemic and molecular mechanisms responsible for music-induced OBBB. Finally, a revision of our traditional knowledge about the BBB nature and the novel strategies in optimizing of sound-mediated methods for brain drug delivery are discussed.

Loud Music Listening

Over the past four decades, there has been increasing interest in the effects of music listening on hearing. The purpose of this paper is to review published studies that detail the noise levels, the potential effects (e.g. noise-induced hearing loss), and the perceptions of those affected by music exposure in occupational and non-occupational settings. The review employed Medline, PubMed, PsychINFO, and the World Wide Web to find relevant studies in the scientific literature. Considered in this review are 43 studies concerning the currently most significant occupational sources of highintensity music: rock and pop music playing and employment at music venues, as well as the most significant sources of non-occupational high-intensity music: concerts, dicotheques (clubs), and personal music players. Although all of the activities listed above have the potential for hearing damage, the most serious threat to hearing comes from prolonged exposures to amplified live music (concerts). The review concludes that more research is needed to clarify the hearing loss risks of music exposure from personal music players and that current scientific literature clearly recognizes an unmet hearing health need for more education regarding the risks of loud music exposure and the benefits of wearing hearing protection, for more hearing protection use by those at risk, and for more regulations limiting music intensity levels at music entertainment venues.

The effect of listening to loud music in the performance of three higher-level cognitive functions

For some people, listening to music can be a pleasant collateral activity during working hours. Occasionally considered to be an important stress reducing strategy in situations when planning, and decision making are required. For that reason, in this work we seek to assess the effect of listening to music at sound pressure levels Leq of 74 to 78 dB-A, in three higher-level cognitive functions: planning, inhibition and visuospatial working memory, in a group of 22 young adults 22 to 39 years old from Mexico City using a two-phase quasi experimental design. During phase 1, all participants were screened for good hearing health through a standard pure-tone audiometry, and then performed four neuropsychological tests while listening to loud music. During phase 2, participants performed the same neuropsychological tests applied during phase 1, but without presenting the musical stimulus in a quiet laboratory environment with a background noise level Leq of 24 to 30 dB-A. In both phases participants were also physiologically tested for possible stress markers. The results demonstrate that listening to loud music might negatively affects daily life cognitive abilities like planning, inhibition, and visuospatial working memory.

Phenomenon of music-induced opening of the blood-brain barrier in healthy mice

Music plays a more important role in our life than just being an entertainment. It is an even anti-anxiety therapy of human and animals. However, the unsafe listening of loud music triggers hearing loss in millions of young people and professional musicians (rock, jazz, and symphony orchestra) due to exposure to damaging levels of sound using personal audio devices or at noisy entertainment venues including nightclubs, discotheques, bars, and concerts. Therefore, it is important to understand how loud music affects us.In this pioneering study on healthy mice, we discover that loud rock music below the safety threshold causes opening of the blood-brain barrier (OBBB), which plays an important role in protecting the brain from viruses, bacteria and toxins. We clearly demonstrate that listening loud music during 2 hrs in an intermittent adaptive regime is accompanied by delayed (1h after music exposure) and short-lasting (during 1-4 hrs) OBBB to low and high molecular weight compounds without cochlear and brain impairments. We present the systemic and molecular mechanisms responsible for music-induced OBBB. Finally, a revision of our traditional knowledge about the BBB nature and the novel strategies in optimization of sound-mediated methods for brain drug delivery are discussed.

CORTISOL HORMONE VARIATIONS DUE TO SOUND STRESS: PLEASANT AND UNPLEASANT SOUND

The current study concentrates on the severity of noise pollution on public health. During this study cortisol hormone analysis was done for confirmation of stress in animals when exposed to high decibel noise like traffic noise and temple bell clapping. During this experiment, the two-Test sets of animals (T1) set exposed to traffic noise and (T2) set to temple bell clapping were used and a standard set of animal (C) who were not exposed to any loud noise but kept in the silent zone (below 55 dB). During the experiment, it became evident that loud noise did cause a surge of cortisol in the animal in the T1 group but no cortisol was present in the T2 group as well as in the Control group of animals. The presence of cortisol in an animal exposed to traffic noise implies stress in those animals and the absence of cortisol in the T2 group indicates the animals were not stressed even though they were exposed at high decibels noise. Also, the control group display absence of cortisol hormone in their blood. This concludes that sound stress is a result of exposure to pleasant or unpleasant sound irrespective of high decibel sound. This could be the reason why loud music is liked by people without causing any harm but is noise for others. It is a sheer matter of perspective of the individual which cause him/her to be stressed of loud noise.

Signal Processing by the Brain

Our responses to sound and light are crucial. We sense them over intensity ranges of at least one million to one. Our brain makes compromises to deal with so much information. The strategy is to just recognize relative signal levels (e.g. to if one signal is twice that of another). In terms of actual intensity, a doubling in sound (or brightness of light) means it has increased by a factor of ten. This logarithmic counting system means a detailed range of one to a million has compressed to just six intensity doublings (ditto for storm and earthquake intensity scales). The ear response creates many unexpected distortions. Our hearing changes with age, and quite dramatically falls when exposed to prolonged high-volume sounds, including exposure to excessively loud music. This is a negative side of electronic amplification and broadcasting, and for headphones or hearing aids there are many distortions.