Original Article International Journal of Basic and Applied Physiology Int J Basic Appl Physiol., 7(1), 2018 89 EVALUATION OF HEARING ACUITY IN YOUNG ADULTS USING PERSONAL LISTENING DEVICES WITH EARPHONES Lopa Vaidya*, N.J.Shah**, Anand H Mistry*** *Assistant Professor, ** Professor *** Associate professor, Department of Physiology, G.C.S medical college, Ahmedabad-380025 Background: There is a growing concern regarding the hearing health of the young adults, because now a day the usage of personal listening devices and mobile phones with earphone or headphones has increased tremendously in youth. Long term use of these devices with high intensity of sound could bring irreversible damage to auditory system. Aim and Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the hearing acuity of young adults using personal listening devices (PLDs) with earphones and nonusers and to evaluate effect of listening habits on hearing. Materials and method: It is a comparative study. Total 500 subjects selected randomly containing two subgroups 250 subjects of test group using earphones and 250 subjects of control group not using earphones from both the sex between age group of 18 – 40 yrs. Before commencing pure tone audiometry on total 500 subjects, questionnaire was filled by subjects regarding age, sex, self-reported hearing problem, duration of usage and type of personal listening devices used by them. The data obtained is statically analysed by SPSS version 19 and chi square method. Results: Our results showed significant differences in mean hearing threshold level at low and high frequency in right and left ear between test group and control group. In present study we obtained significant fair positive correlation between mean hearing threshold level and usage of sound devices/day/year in Rt and Lt.ear with Low and high frequency. Our results also revealed that significant association is found between usage of earphone/day and hearing impairment. Conclusion: Usage of personal listening devices with earphones for longer time with high intensity of sound leads to early hearing loss and the frequency of mean hearing threshold level is higher in earphone users than nonusers. Key Words: Ear phones, mean hearing threshold, hearing acuity. Author for correspondence: Dr Anand H Mistry, Department of Physiology, GCS Medical College, Ahmedabad- 380025. E-mail: dranand.4.10@gmail.com Introduction: In the 70´s portable music became available with the portable cassette players. During the 80´s more than a third of young people, 11-18yrs, owned a portable cassette player 1 Later in the 90´s, technically improved and lower costs portable music players were available and digital MP3- players (music player) were introduced and became popular in younger generation. 2 Portable electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets and computers, with earphones, became a common and natural part of everyday life. The unit sales in Europe for all portable audio have increased and nowadays most of mobile phones include an audio playback function. 3, 4 Today most young people use portable music listening devices (PLDs) with earphones, due to the convenience of listening to music anytime and anywhere. However, they are not aware about risk of damage to hearing due to excessive use of personal listening devices with earphones. The average use in young people has been reported to about 2 hours per day and the prevalence of PLD´s has tripled in the last two decades. 3, 4,5, 6 With the increased availability and use of personal audio devices for listening to music the threat of hearing impairment is increased, due to exposure to noise & their use at high volume over long periods. In India also from 2001 to 2008, personal music player use rose fourfold, from 18.3% to 76.4% and High-frequency hearing loss increased from 12.4% to 19.2% during these years. According to the Indian council of medical research, hearing impairment is on the rise in India, and 1 out of every 12 people is a victim. Nearly 6.3% of the Indian population suffers from progressive and acute hearing loss. Doctors believed that rise in hearing impairment may be life style related hearing impairment, which is the new fear and is avoidable. 7