The purposes of this study were to determine if high school band directors experience hearing loss and to explore the relationships that their musical environment may have on their abilities to properly hear. In addition, the results of the band directors’ hearing examinations were compared to audiometric data of similar participants within the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey IV (NHANES) that was conducted in the United States.
Forty-two high school band directors from western Pennsylvania participated in this study. Twenty-five (59.5%) of the directors were found to have hearing loss in at least one of their ears. Each of the audiograms of the directors that indicated hearing loss were also evaluated for signs of an audiometric notch and compared to their corresponding tympanograms for further indications of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Of these, twenty-one directors (84%) were found to have an audiometric notch pattern on their audiograms with at least one of their ears.
In total, eighteen band directors (43% overall, 72% of those with hearing loss) had audiometric results that indicated an audiometric notch in at least one ear and had passing tympanometric results. This combination further suggests NIHL as a possible reason for the hearing loss found in the majority of the band directors.
When comparing the audiometric results of the band directors and NHANES groups, the percentages of those who experienced hearing loss in at least one ear were very similar. Most (58.3%) of the NHANES group experienced hearing loss in at least one of their ears.
Further analyses of the hearing thresholds of the band director and NHANES participants showed significant differences between the groups, particularly with the upper frequencies. These findings indicated that hearing loss manifested itself differently among the frequency thresholds of each group. The audiograms of the band group showed signs of an audiometric notch while those in the NHANES group did not.
Music profession specific environmental data were also collected and compared to the results of the audiometric examinations. The results of this comparison did not find a relationship between the band directors’ music environments and their hearing abilities.