Hearing and Tinnitus Evaluation in Music Teachers.

PURPOSE: Music is an aesthetic whole consisting of sounds combined according to a certain purpose, method and understanding. Therefore, it also interacts with emotions in listeners. Music sounds are in the range of approximately 20-8000 Hz. This frequency range is within the frequency spectrum of the human cochlea. The aim of this research is to evaluate the hearing thresholds of music teachers and to determine whether they cause tinnitus.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: This research was conducted in Turgut Özal University Medical Faculty Hospital Audiology and Speech Disorders clinic. A total of 35 people (17 music teachers, 18 control groups) participated in the research. In this research, 17 music teachers (11 females, 6 males) aged 24-39, and 18 volunteers (12 females, 6 males) participated in the control group. After the otoscopic examination of all participants, pure tone audiometry (in the range of 125-16,000 Hz), immitansmetric examination and Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission (DPOAE) tests were performed. Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) was used in the evaluation of tinnitus.

RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between the music teachers and the control group in all pure tone hearing threshold averages of 125-16,000 Hz (p>0.05). The Uncomfortable Level (UCL) average of music teachers was 104.12 ± 3.83 dB for the right ear, 108.33 ± 3.83 dB for the control group, 107.78 ± 4.28 dB for the left ear, and 103.53 ± 4.28 for the control group. DPOAE results were found statistically significant at 3000 Hz only for the right and left ears (p=0.036; p=0.015, respectively). Also, for DPOAE test, the control group's OAE values were higher than the music teachers. According to the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory in music teachers, 1st degree tinnitus has emerged.

CONCLUSION: According to the findings obtained, the low UCL value in music teachers compared to the control group suggests the tolerance problem. Continuous exposure to the sound was thought to create a noise effect on the cochlea, and as a result, tinnitus susceptibility appeared in music teaching.