Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions in rock musicians.

OBJECTIVE: Our focus in this study was the assessment of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) in a large group of rock musicians. A further objective was to analyse tinnitus among rock musicians as related to TEOAEs.

DESIGN: The study was a cross-sectional survey of rock musicians selected at random. A control group was included at random for comparison.

STUDY SAMPLE: We recruited 111 musicians and a control group of 40 non-musicians. Testing was conducted by using clinical examination, pure tone audiometry, TEOAEs and a questionnaire.

RESULTS: TEOAE SNR in the half-octave frequency band centred on 4 kHz was significantly lower bilaterally in musicians than controls. This effect was strongly predicted by age and pure-tone hearing threshold levels in the 3-6 kHz range. Bilateral hearing thresholds were significantly higher at 6 kHz in musicians. Twenty percent of the musicians had permanent tinnitus. There was no association between the TEOAE parameters and permanent tinnitus.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest an incipient hearing loss at 6 kHz in rock musicians. Loss of TEOAE SNR in the 4 kHz half-octave frequency band was observed, but it was related to higher mean 3-6 kHz hearing thresholds and age. A large proportion of rock musicians have permanent tinnitus.