A new scientific study warns that more than a billion teenagers and young people are potentially at risk of hearing loss due to frequent use of headphones and listening to loud music or attending concerts with loud music. The study urges governments around the world to take this issue more seriously and urgently prioritize new “safe listening” policies.

Researchers led by Dr. Lorin Dillard of the Department of ENT, N. Carolina Medical University, who published in the British medical journal BMJ Global Health, reviewed and evaluated all relevant available studies (33), which involved a total of 19,046 people. aged 12 to 34 years. The world population between the ages of 12 and 34 is estimated at about 2.8 billion people.

A new study (systematic review and meta-analysis) concluded that unsafe listening practices associated with either frequent use of headphones or frequent participation in activities with very loud music affect 24% and 48% of young people, respectively. Estimates of the global number of adolescents and young people at potential risk of hearing loss range from 670 million to 1.35 billion.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that at least 430 million people worldwide already have minor or major hearing loss. Adolescents and young adults are especially vulnerable as a new study shows.

Source: RES-IPE