ABSTRACT
Purpose:
characterize the habits and hearing complaints of teenagers with normal hearing users of personal stereos and connect them with the activity of the medial olivocochlear system.
Methods:
21 subjects were assessed (between 12 and 19 years) with normal hearing. They answered a closed questionnaire concerning the auditory behavior and complaining of tinnitus and accomplished hearing evaluation: Audiometry, immittance, transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and Suppression Effect.
Results:
all participants of the study get exposed to music, the most them less than two daily hours. It was observed the presence of the suppression effect in the right ear in 66,67% and in the left ear in 61,90% of teenagers. Was not found significant association among the presence of the suppression effect between the ears, the genders, times daily noise exposure and absence of suppression effect. The sample of the teenagers reported having tinnitus, these, most reported tinnitus in both ears. Had significant association between the daily noise exposure and the presence of tinnitus and between the absence of the suppression effect of right ear and the presence of tinnitus.
Conclusion:
all the teenagers researched reported listen to music every day, the most them less than two hours per day. The most of teenagers presented suppression effect. The tinnitus complaint can be associated with the absence of suppression effect in the right ear. In addition, like longer the time of sound exposure longer also the presence of tinnitus complaint in these adolescents.
Keywords:
Audiology; Adolescent; Music; Habits; Tinnitus; Risk Factors
