Abstract:
Excessive recreational noise exposure in young adults might result in noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and tinnitus.
Inducing behavioral change in young adults is one of the aims of a hearing conservation program (HCP). The goal of
the current study was to evaluate the effect of a hearing education program after 6 months in young adults in relation
to knowledge regarding their individual hearing status. The results of a questionnaire regarding the weekly equivalent
recreational noise exposure, attitudes and beliefs toward noise, and hearing loss and hearing protector devices (HPDs)
were compared between both sessions. Seventy-eight young adults completed the questionnaire concerning recreational
noise exposure, youth attitude to noise scale (YANS), and beliefs about hearing protection and hearing loss (BAHPHL).
Their hearing status was evaluated based on admittance measures, audiometry, transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions
(TEOAEs), and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs). The main analysis consisted of a mixed model
analysis of variance with dependent variables of either the noise exposure or the scores on (subscales of) YANS and
BAHPHL. The independent variables were hearing status and session one versus session two. There was a significant
decrease in recreational noise exposure and several (sub) scales of YANS and BAHPHL between both the sessions. This
behavioral change resulted in a more frequent use of HPDs in 12% of the participants. However, the behavioral change
was not completely related to the knowledge of young adults’ individual hearing status. To prevent hearing damage
in young people, investing in HCPs is necessary, apart from regulating sound levels and its compliance at various
leisure-time activities. Also, the long-term effect of HCPs and their most cost-efficient repetition rates should be further
investigated.
