Audiological and electrophysiological assessment of professional pop/rock musicians

• Published in: Noise & health Vol. 14; no. 56; pp. 6 - 12
• Main Authors: Samelli, Alessandra G, Matas, Carla G, Carvallo, Renata M M, Gomes, Raquel F, de Beija, Carolina S, Magliaro, Fernanda C L, Rabelo, Camila M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01-01-2012; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation; Acoustics; Adolescent; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Audiometry, Pure-Tone; Auditory evoked potentials; auditory pathways; auditory stimulation; Auditory Threshold; Chi-Square Distribution; Electrophysiology; evoked otoacoustic emissions; Evoked Potentials, Auditory; Hearing; Hearing loss; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced - diagnosis; Hearing protection; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Music; Musicians & conductors; Noise levels; Occupational Diseases - diagnosis; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational safety; Physiological aspects; Prospective Studies; Psychological aspects; Rock musicians; Training; United States
• ISSN: 1463-1741; 1998-4030
• DOI: 10.4103/1463-1741.93314

In the present study, we evaluated peripheral and central auditory pathways in professional musicians (with and without hearing loss) compared to non-musicians. The goal was to verify if music exposure could affect auditory pathways as a whole. This is a prospective study that compared the results obtained between three groups (musicians with and without hearing loss and non-musicians). Thirty-two male individuals participated and they were assessed by: Immittance measurements, pure-tone air conduction thresholds at all frequencies from 0.25 to 20 kHz, Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions, Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR), and Cognitive Potential. The musicians showed worse hearing thresholds in both conventional and high frequency audiometry when compared to the non-musicians; the mean amplitude of Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions was smaller in the musicians group, but the mean latencies of Auditory Brainstem Response and Cognitive Potential were diminished in the musicians when compared to the non-musicians. Our findings suggest that the population of musicians is at risk for developing music-induced hearing loss. However, the electrophysiological evaluation showed that latency waves of ABR and P300 were diminished in musicians, which may suggest that the auditory training to which these musicians are exposed acts as a facilitator of the acoustic signal transmission to the cortex.