Student Musicians, Hearing Loss, and Hearing Protection Behaviors: The Influence of Role Models, Social Persuasion, Attitudinal, and Emotional Factors

Musicians, including music students in training, often have lengthy exposure to sounds 85 dB or higher, which places them at risk for noise-induced hearing loss and reduced sensitivity to musical features. While many music students are aware of this risk, uptake of hearing protection is uncommon. The purpose of this study was to compare the responses of college music students to hearing health promotion presented in two conditions: (1) a written document (WDC) on hearing health, and (2) a video (VC) on hearing health with socially relevant role models, emphasizing social persuasion, attitudinal, and emotional factors. Following each condition (WDC, VC), participants were given non-custom filtered earplugs to keep and use. Sixty-six collegiate music students were randomly assigned to the WDC or VC. During the first session, participants completed questionnaires measuring knowledge of hearing health and their readiness/attitude toward the use of hearing protection. Following the intervention (WDC or VC), participants repeated those questionnaires, evaluated the WDC or VC, and were instructed on how to use hearing protection. Participants were invited for a 3-week follow-up testing knowledge retention, readiness/attitudes regarding hearing health and protection, and use of hearing protection between the first and follow-up sessions. T-tests were used to examine changes from pre- to post-testing for each condition as well as between each condition. Both groups achieved significant improvements in knowledge of hearing health and readiness to use hearing protection; while the mean scores were typically higher for the video condition, there was no significant difference between the two conditions in improvement. The video group was significantly more satisfied with the content, format, and usefulness of their intervention than the written document group.