Evidence of noise-induced hearing loss among orchestral musicians

Backus, B. C. and Williamon, A. (2009) Evidence of noise-induced hearing loss among orchestral musicians. In: International Symposium on Performance Science 2009, 15-18 December 2009, New Zealand.

Abstract

An assessment of hearing thresholds among student orchestral musicians was carried out at the UCL Ear Institute in conjunction with the Royal College of Music (RCM). Audiogram data taken from 162 students (86 F, 76 M; mean age=23.7 years, SD=4.8) showed a statistically significant notch at 6 kHz in the left ear, indicative of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), but no significant notch was found in the right. Noise exposure asymmetry did not appear to account for notch asymmetry as trombone and trumpet players showed evidence of the same left notch trend as lateralized instruments such as violin and viola players. The earliest audiometric indicator of impending NIHL for musicians may be a developing hearing threshold notch at 6 kHz in the left ear.

Preview

Text 033Backus.pdf - Published Version Available under License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial. Download (267kB)

Official URL:	http://performancescience.org/publication/isps-200...
Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Poster)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	noise exposure; hearing damage; musical performance; orchestral musicians; music students
Subjects:	Performance Science R Medicine > RF Otorhinolaryngology
Division:	Performance Science
Depositing User:	Professor Aaron Williamon
Date Deposited:	29 Dec 2018 13:57
Last Modified:	09 Mar 2020 16:05
URI:	https://researchonline.rcm.ac.uk/id/eprint/367

Actions (login required)

View Item