Hearing Loss in Singapore Teens? In the United States of America, more than half of the high students report show symptoms of hearing loss, a possible result of listening to blaring music on popular digital music players. It is found that usage habits are potential detrimental to hearing health and any damage could also be part of the general noise of modern living – which people use MP3 players to shut out. Music is being classified as: As digital music players have come more popular among teenagers in Singapore, it is necessary to investigate if such music players do play a role in causing teenagers to show signs of hearing loss. To determine the number of teenagers having musical devices To investigate the number of hours spent on listening to musical devices using headphones To find out the type of headphones used by teenagers To find out the estimated volume set in the music player To find out the number of teenagers, who own musical devices, face symptoms of hearing loss To find out the type of music teenagers listen to To determine the awareness of teenagers towards hearing loss INTRODUCTION RATIONALE RESEARCH QUESTIONS 100 students, 13 – 19 years old surveyed Loud Soft Classical Rock Jazz Hard Rock/Metal Blues Pop Classical Rhythm & Blues (R&B) Folk/Traditional Rap Latin Funk Country DEMOGRAPH asghldgjhasgasr SYMPTOMS OF HEARING LOSS Hearing Loss in Singapore Teens? Turning up Volume of Television Set or Radio Saying “what” or “huh” during normal conversations Perceive people’s voice as mumbled or muffled Having tinnitus or ringing in the ears Soon Yong Sen, Calvin Leuar Woan Keng Seow Zhi Yi Ow Jie Yu No. of Teenagers No. of Teenagers This graph reflects the awareness of teenagers as to the possibility of hearing damage from using musical devices. From the above graphs, it can be seen that MP3 players, Discman and other forms of musical devices are very popular among teenagers nowadays. This graph shows the amount of time teenagers spend on listening musical devices. The above graph shows the relation of type of music as to teenagers having hearing loss symptoms at times. No. of Teenagers Ear-plug Clip on 1 hr 2 – 3 hr 4 – 6 hr 7 – 8 hr 9 – 10 hr No. of Teenagers Musical devices are immensely popular in teenagers. The type of hearing device used is a factor in the possible hearing loss Also, the increased amount of time and volume also means increased possibility of hearing loss. However, most of teenagers are unaware of the possible harms that listening to musical on these devices could bring about. Despite admitting to having symptoms of hearing loss. This research has confirmed that the issue of hearing loss in teenagers is present in Singapore. No. of Teenagers CONCLUSION 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Estimated Volume Set (%) According to results, ear plugs are more detrimental to our hearing than clip on headphones similar to research findings that found ear plugs are more harmful reason being that it is closer to the listener’s ear drums hence more sound waves reach it. Surprisingly, symptoms of hearing loss in teenagers seem to affect those who spend 4-6hours listening more than those who listen for even longer hours. The above graphs shows that a high number of teenagers experienced hearing loss due to the volume of their musical devices being set at