Social Noise Exposure in a Sample of Slovak University Students

Purpose: Social noise exposure is currently an emerging problem in adolescents and young adults. Various leisure time activities may be responsible for hearing impairment (temporary or permanent hearing threshold shift or hearing loss). The study aimed to quantify environmental noise from various sources—voluntary (social) noise (personal music players (PMPs), high-intensity noise exposure events), and road traffic noise and to detect hearing disorders in relation to individual listening to PMPs in the sample of young adults living and studying in Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. Methods: The study included 1003 university students (306 men and 697 women, average age 23.1 ± 2) living in Bratislava for 4 or more years; 347 lived in the student housing facility exposed to road traffic noise (LAeq = 67.6 dB) and 656 in the control one (LAeq = 53.4 dB). Respondents completed a validated ICBEN 5-grade scale “noise annoyance questionnaire”. In the exposed group a significant source of annoyance was road traffic noise (p < 0.001), noise from entertainment facilities (p < 0.001), industrial noise (p < 0.001), and noise from neighboring flats (p = 0.003). The exposure to PMPs was objectified by the conversion of the subjective evaluation of the volume setting and duration. With the cooperation of the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT)specialist, we arranged audiometric examinations on the pilot sample of 41 volunteers. Results: From the total sample of respondents, 79.2% reported the use of a PMP in the course of the last week, and the average time was 285 min. There was a significant difference in PMP use between the road traffic noise-exposed (85.6%) and the control group (75.8%) (p = 0.01). Among PMP users 30.7% exceeded the lower action value (LAV) for industry (LAeq,8h = 80 dB). On a pilot sample of volunteers (n = 41), audiometry testing was performed indicating a hearing threshold shift at higher frequencies in 22% of subjects. Conclusions: The results of the study on a sample of young healthy individuals showed the importance of exposure to social noise as well as to road traffic noise and the need for prevention and intervention.