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December 08, 2020
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Almost 75% of teens report exposure to loud sounds at school

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Nearly three in four American teenagers reported exposure to loud sounds at school for more than 15 minutes per day, according to results published in MMWR.

John Eichwald, MA, chief of the CDC’s Child Development and Disability Branch, and Franco Scinicariello, MD, a health scientist at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, surveyed 817 youths aged 12 to 17 years.

Source: Adobe Stock
Source: Adobe Stock.

In the report, the authors wrote that noise-induced hearing loss is a “substantial, often unrecognized, health problem.” Research suggests that one in every six to eight adolescent students has measurable hearing loss likely from excessive noise exposure.

According to Eichwald and Scinicariello, 73.6% of children in their analysis reported sound exposure, whereas 46.5% of youth reported noise exposure every day or two to four times per week.

John Eichwald

“Students can take simple steps to protect their hearing, for example, wear earplugs or earmuffs in loud environments, move away from the sound source when possible, and take quiet breaks,” Eichwald told Healio.

However, nearly 86% of students reported that schools did not provide them with hearing protection devices during exposure, and 70.4% reported that noise prevention techniques were not a part of their educational curriculum.

Students attending a school that included information on hearing protection in its coursework were more likely to report that they were provided with hearing protection devices (adjusted OR = 5.4; 95% CI, 3.3-8.9).

“The finding that schools providing information about hearing protection were more likely to supply hearing protection devices emphasizes the need for raising awareness about the adverse health effects of excessive noise exposure, as well as the importance of protective measures in school settings,” Eichwald said. “Educators, as well as school audiologists and nurses, can use the free resources and tools available to them teach youths about the causes and prevention of [noise-induced hearing loss].”