PhD defence D.E. (Danique) Paping

Brief summary of the doctoral thesis:

As the third leading cause of years lived with a disability, hearing loss can have a major impact on daily life. Although the prevalence of hearing loss increases with age, it is not just the inevitable process of growing old. It is a multifactorial condition influenced by aging, genetic susceptibility, and environmental factors. Within this thesis, we aimed to contribute to a better understanding of the prevalence and risk factors for acquired hearing loss in adolescence. Our results show that 6.4% of the 13- to 15-year-old adolescents living in Rotterdam suffer from hearing loss. A lower socioeconomic status and risk behavior are associated with a decline of hearing in adolescence.

As noise-induced hearing loss is of great concern in modern society with an increase in recreational noise, we were interested in the music listening behavior of young people, and the risk of hearing loss related to personal music player use.   In total, 12.4% of the adolescents in this study had audiometric signs suggestive of noise-induced hearing loss. A smartphone application was developed to measure personal music player use. We observed that the majority of adolescents engage in listening behavior that could be considered safe. Within this thesis, no association was found between personal music player use and hearing. Future research should investigate the long-term effects of using music players on hearing.