The Effect of Music on Hearing of String Musicians

Background and Aim: Hearing sensitivity is so vital for musicians as loud music can cause hearing loss. The aim of this study was to assess hearing sensitivity of musicians in order to determine the effects of music exposure on hearing organ. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 15 string musicians with musicianship history of more than 10 years and 15 normal hearing subjects. They all were male and 20-30 years old. TEOAE and DPOAE performed and after otoscopy, immittance and pure tone audiometry in octave frequencies between 250 to 16000 Hz. Results: There is not significant difference between pure tone thresholds of two groups for all frequencies. A significant difference of TEOAE is found between two groups for total response and amplitudes of TEOAE .DPOAE amplitudes are not significantly different between two groups. Conclusion: Musicianship may affect TEOAE amplitudes , but cannot affect results of PTA and DPOAE. Therefore this can be useful to detect cochlear lesions secondary to music exposure and also as a tool in hearing protection program