Klarinet Archive - Posting 000548.txt from 1997/08

From: "Diane Karius, Ph.D." <dikarius@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: FALSE ALARM!!!
Date: Thu, 14 Aug 1997 16:50:49 -0400

Out of curiousity, I did a medline search looking for references
regarding hearing loss in musicians (especially in the context of an
orchestra or concert band compared to the average population) - I
found one reference ( Hearing loss in students at a conservatory.
Schmidt JM; Brocaar MP; Verschuure J Audiology 1994
Jul-Aug;33(4):185-94) which was close. This study compared hearing
loss in conservatory students to age-matched controls (medical
students). They found that roughly 15 - 20% of the students showed
some degree of hearing loss (if this seems high, it is in part
because the researchers were using some very sensitive tests that
aren't normally done in your doctor's office).
The punch line: Conservatory students had similar incidences
of hearing loss than the medical students over any range tested
except for the highest frequencies, where they had a LOWER incidence
of hearing loss.
My cursory search did not find any similar studies looking at
other age groups of musicians or comparing the professional musician
to the amateur community band member. Sounds like a dissertation to
me...

Diane R. Karius, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology
University of Health Sciences
2105 Independence Ave.
Kansas City, MO 64124
email: dikarius@-----.EDU

   
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