2020 NHCA Annual Conference

Presented By: Richard Neitzel, PhD, CIH, FAIHA
Co-Author: Lauren Smith, MPH
"The impacts of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) resulting from excessive noise exposure are extensive, severe, and widespread.However, there is little information available about music exposure levels and listening patterns among adults in the United States.As a result, we do not have a good understanding ofthe relationship between listening to music and risk of hearing loss. The introduction of new technology and software into mobile devices has created exciting new opportunities for us to learn more about these issues.The University of Michigan School of Public Health has partnered with Apple to take advantage of these opportunities in a new research study.This presentation will provide an overview of the study, and also identify ways in which the results of the study will be useful to hearing conservation practitioners.

As part of this study, we will evaluate the levels of sound at which iPhone users listen to music and other media on their mobile devices, as well as how long and how often they listen.We will also measure environmental noise levels, and deliver several different types of hearing tests to participants.We will collect this information from tens of thousands (or more!) of volunteer adults who use iPhones or iPods, and from the subset of volunteers who also use Apple Watches.This unique dataset will allow us to create something the United States has never had: national-level estimates of exposures to music and environmental sound.It will also give us a better understanding of the relationship between these exposures and hearing health.Collectively, this information will help give us a clearer picture of hearing health in America, and will increase our knowledge about the impacts of our daily exposures to music and noise.This information is critical for us to address and reduce the major public health impacts of hearing loss in the United States."