TY - JOUR
T1 - Hearing loss in singers
T2 - A preliminary study
AU - Hu, Amanda
AU - Hofmann, Erik
AU - Davis, John
AU - Capo, Joseph
AU - Krane, Natalie
AU - Sataloff, Robert T.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 The Voice Foundation.
PY - 2015/1/1
Y1 - 2015/1/1
N2 - Objective Singers need good hearing; however, they may be exposed to loud noises during their musical activities. The objectives of this study were to describe the incidence and type of hearing loss (HL) in singers. Study design Retrospective case cohort. Methods Billing records identified patients who had undergone videostroboscopy and audiogram during the same visit over a 3 year period. A singer was defined as anyone who self-identified as a singer (professional or avocational). Age and gender matched nonsingers were used as controls. Patients with otologic diagnoses, surgery, or complaints were excluded. Retrospective chart review was conducted for the presence of HL, type of HL, and pure tones audiogram results. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, Students t test, chi-square test, and Fisher exact test. Results Of 172 singers (44.7 years, 37.8% male), 31 (17.5%) had HL. Pure tone thresholds for the singers with HL subgroup at 3, 4, and 6 kHz were 21.0, 26.5, and 34.4 dB in the right, and 22.8, 30.3, and 38.8 dB in the left ear, respectively. Older age (P = 0.000000000000001), male gender (P < 0.001), longer number of years of singing (P = 0.0000000003), and baritone voice (P < 0.001) were associated with HL. There was no association with genre of music. When compared with controls, the incidence of HL (19.8%) was not significantly different (χ2 = 0.300, P = 0.58). Pure tones at 3, 4, and 6 kHz were not significantly different than controls with HL. Most common type of HL in singers was bilateral sensorineural (83.9%), which was significantly higher than controls (39.0%, χ2 = 14.6, P < 0.001). Conclusions The incidence of HL in singers was 17.5%, which was not significantly different from controls. Bilateral sensorineural HL was most common.
AB - Objective Singers need good hearing; however, they may be exposed to loud noises during their musical activities. The objectives of this study were to describe the incidence and type of hearing loss (HL) in singers. Study design Retrospective case cohort. Methods Billing records identified patients who had undergone videostroboscopy and audiogram during the same visit over a 3 year period. A singer was defined as anyone who self-identified as a singer (professional or avocational). Age and gender matched nonsingers were used as controls. Patients with otologic diagnoses, surgery, or complaints were excluded. Retrospective chart review was conducted for the presence of HL, type of HL, and pure tones audiogram results. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, Students t test, chi-square test, and Fisher exact test. Results Of 172 singers (44.7 years, 37.8% male), 31 (17.5%) had HL. Pure tone thresholds for the singers with HL subgroup at 3, 4, and 6 kHz were 21.0, 26.5, and 34.4 dB in the right, and 22.8, 30.3, and 38.8 dB in the left ear, respectively. Older age (P = 0.000000000000001), male gender (P < 0.001), longer number of years of singing (P = 0.0000000003), and baritone voice (P < 0.001) were associated with HL. There was no association with genre of music. When compared with controls, the incidence of HL (19.8%) was not significantly different (χ2 = 0.300, P = 0.58). Pure tones at 3, 4, and 6 kHz were not significantly different than controls with HL. Most common type of HL in singers was bilateral sensorineural (83.9%), which was significantly higher than controls (39.0%, χ2 = 14.6, P < 0.001). Conclusions The incidence of HL in singers was 17.5%, which was not significantly different from controls. Bilateral sensorineural HL was most common.
KW - Hearing loss
KW - Noise-induced hearing loss
KW - Singers
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jvoice.2014.05.007
DO - 10.1016/j.jvoice.2014.05.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 24954037
AN - SCOPUS:84920681419
SN - 0892-1997
VL - 29
SP - 120
EP - 124
JO - Journal of Voice
JF - Journal of Voice
IS - 1
ER -