Noise Exposure from Leisure-time Activities: Demographics and Outcomes

Abstract

Leisure-time noise exposure seems to be increasing in recent decades with the introduction of iPods, more powerful speaker systems and a culture of nightclub attendance amongst young people. There is a concern that the contribution of leisure-time noise exposure to the total noise dose may be bigger than previously thought. Dosimetry was performed on 26 participants. These participants were part of a lager (n = 462) cohort for an Industrial Noise study which collected data regarding hearing thresholds and occupational and leisure-time noise exposure histories. Results showed that the majority of people did not experience excessive leisure-time noise exposure, but that young men were most likely to experience high levels of noise exposure outside of work. It showed that young men were also the likeliest group to overestimate their noise exposure, while women showed tendencies to underestimate. Analysing hearing thresholds showed that leisure-time noise exposure predicted hearing threshold for notch (3, 4, 6 kHz) frequencies in 41-50 year olds. In addition, it was found that the younger generation reported more leisure-time noisy exposure than their older generation counterparts, when they were the same age. Finally, it was found that in this cohort, hearing protection use was lacking. Findings from both dosimetry results and analysis of the large dataset were mostly consistent with current research. Leisure-time exposure outside of work was more than what occupational safety and health legislations expected.