Study: Young Blacks Less Attuned Than Whites To Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

March 4, 2004

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Young blacks know less about hearing loss than their white counterparts, but those in both groups turn a deaf ear to advice about how to protect themselves in noisy settings, a new University of Florida study shows.

“This lack of knowledge (among blacks) is possibly linked to less access to health care and differences in the quality of care available to African-Americans,” said Terry Mills, a UF sociologist and one of the study’s researchers. “And with a greater amount of health information available online, a related issue is the extent to which African-Americans have access to the technology of the Internet.”

Young people showed considerable knowledge about the effects of noise on hearing, but with few exceptions, blacks were consistently less likely than whites to correctly identify the symptoms for potentially damaging levels of noise.

And although 70 percent of the study participants correctly responded that the best ways to protect hearing was to use earplugs or earmuffs, 72 percent said they never wore them for reasons that included cosmetic concerns, inconvenience, lack of comfort and a belief they were unnecessary, according to the study. The findings appeared in the February issue of the Journal of the National Medical Association.

More than 11 million Americans experience some degree of permanent hearing loss from noise, and another 40 million work in environments with dangerous noise levels, said Carl Crandell, a UF professor of communication sciences and disorders who led the study.

“We know that people with hearing loss have a higher degree of psychosocial and emotional problems, such as anxiety, depression, feelings of isolation and withdrawal, and research shows that people with even mild degrees of hearing loss have greater physical health problems,” he said.

The study involved 100 black and 100 white students 18 to 29 in UF liberal arts classes who had not taken any audiology or hearing-related classes. Each was given a 17-item questionnaire measuring knowledge, perceptions and attitudes about noise-induced hearing loss, as well as their personal habits, such as whether they use any hearing-protection devices.

When surveyed about whether listening to their favorite music at very loud levels was potentially damaging to their hearing, 38 percent of black students correctly said “yes,” compared with 45 percent of whites, he said.

Fewer blacks – 75 percent – compared with 95 percent of white participants correctly answered “no” to a question asking if noise-induced hearing loss typically can be cured. Of blacks, 11 percent in the total sample thought it could be cured by bed rest compared with only 1 percent of whites, he said.

Blacks, however, were less likely than whites to engage in activities potentially hazardous to hearing, such as motor boating, riding motorcycles and listening to portable music players, which Mills attributes to social and economic factors. “The Caucasian participants may have more disposable income, more leisure time or different perceptions of what to do with leisure time,” he said.

Although adolescents and young adults are at increased risk of developing hearing loss because of their exposure to high noise levels from stereo systems, music clubs and rock concerts, little research of this kind has been targeted at them, Crandell said.

“This age group also is of concern because they are on the verge of entering the labor force where there are many different environments with potentially hazardous levels of noise, including factories, construction as well as many types of manual labor jobs,” Crandell said.

There also is a lack of research on racial and ethnic differences in understanding hearing loss, despite the white population growing at a slower rate than minority groups, Crandell said.

Robert Folmer, an otolaryngology professor at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, said the refusal to use hearing protection was the study’s “most alarming” finding. “I agree with the authors that this finding has important implications for hearing conservation and education procedures among young adults,” he said. “A public health campaign should be undertaken to mandate hearing conservation instruction in our nation’s classrooms as soon as possible.”

Blacks were slightly more receptive than whites to the idea of wearing earplugs or other devices if they were handed out free in high-decibel environments, with 89 percent saying they would use them in such circumstances versus 80 percent of whites.

Apparently outweighing the perceived seriousness of hearing damage in the case of both groups are cultural pressures to conform to youthful images of attractiveness, and the popular image makes it “uncool” for young people to wear protective devices, Mills said.

“Media portrayals of young people show it’s hip to have a Walkman in your ears with the sound cranked up,” he said. “Like hearing aids, the idea of wearing earplugs or earmuffs is in the domain of older people.”

That might change if MTV or some other powerful entertainment group or performer promoted a protect-your-hearing campaign, he said.