Exposure to excessive sounds during orchestra rehearsals and temporary hearing changes in hearing among musicians

摘要

Background: It has been shown that musicians are at risk of noise-induced hearing loss. The aim of the study has been to evaluatethe temporary changes of hearing in the case of orchestral musicians after group rehearsals. Material and Methods: The studygroup comprised 18 orchestral musicians, aged 30–58 years old (mean: 40 years old) having 12–40 years (mean: 22 years) ofprofessional experience. The temporary changes in hearing after group rehearsals were determined using transient-evokedotoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs). Noise exposures during group rehearsals were also evaluated. Results: Musicians’ hearingthreshold levels were higher (worse) than expected for the equivalent non-noise-exposed population. Moreover, the high frequencynotched audiograms were observed in some of them. After rehearsals, during which musicians were exposed to orchestralnoise at A-weighted equivalent-continuous sound pressure level (normalized to 8-h working day) varied from 75.6–83.1 dB(mean: 79.4 dB). The significant post-exposure reductions of TEOAE amplitudes (approx. 0.7 dB) both for the total responseand frequency bands of 2000 and 3000 Hz were noted. However, there were no significant differences between pre- and postexposurereproducibility of TEOAE. Conclusions: Obtained results have confirmed that orchestral musicians are at risk of hearingloss due to their professional activities, even at exposures to orchestral noise less than the limit values for occupational noise. Med Pr 2015;66(4):479–486