Parents Unaware of Hearing Loss Risk for Teenagers

Yael Waknine

November 22, 2013

Less than 5% of parents think their child is at risk for high-frequency hearing loss despite the silent epidemic affecting almost 20% of adolescents, according to results of an Internet-based survey published online November 21 in JAMA Otolaryngolgy–Head Neck Surgery.

"[F]ew parents believe that their teenager is at risk of hearing loss and most parents have a poor understanding of hazardous noise exposures for adolescents," write Deepa L. Sekhar, MD, from Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and colleagues. However, the 19.5% prevalence of hearing loss among 12- to 19-year-olds is comparable to the 18.4% obesity rate, which gets much more attention.

The Web-based survey included a nationally representative sample of 716 parents. Of those participants, 96.3% thought their child had either no risk or only a slight risk for hearing loss, and 69.0% had not even raised the topic with their children, mainly because of the perceived low risk.

Still, most of the parents (>65.0%) reported being willing or very willing to consider preventive measures and were more likely to hold a discussion when aware of volume and exposure time as equal risk factors (odds ratio [OR], 1.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.29 - 3.03). In addition, once aware of the risks, they were willing to limit time spent listening to music (OR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.19 - 2.96), or to insist on use of hearing protection (OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.15 - 3.18).

Indeed, raising parental awareness may be a key issue: When presented with a list of activities, most only recognized headphone use with an iPod as being high-risk factor. Many other common sources of hearing loss were overlooked, such as talking on a loud cell phone, band practice, shop work, summertime lawnmower operation, and motorcycle riding.

"Certainly, many of the hearing-hazardous activities in which adolescents partake are also important components of their education, growth, and development. The goal is not to eliminate these activities but to approach them with some knowledge of the potential hearing risks and take the appropriate steps for hearing conservation," the authors point out.

Yet, fewer than half of the parents surveyed knew about volume-limiting headphones, and many fewer believed their teenagers would use them. Parents with higher education were more likely than those with a high school certificate or less to purchase the headphones and insist on their use.

"Parental support of adolescent behavioral interventions can be an important piece of their success," the authors note.

"[T]argeting less well-educated parents of younger teenagers may be a good starting point," they conclude.

The study was supported by a grant from the Children's Miracle Network. The authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. Published online November 21, 2013. Abstract