Klarinet Archive - Posting 000595.txt from 1997/08

From: "L. BORCHERT" <lborcher@-----.Edu>
Subj: Re: Hearing Loss Research Search
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 1997 15:28:43 -0400

This response by Diane is one of the great reasons for this list to exist.
Thanks Diane for taking time to do this for those of us who do not have
immediate access to this type of information.

Laroy

Dr. Laroy Borchert
Professor of Clarinet
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM 88003

On Thu, 14 Aug 1997, Diane
Karius, Ph.D. wrote:

> 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
>