Examining the noisy life of the college musician: weeklong noise dosimetry of music and non-music activities

Abstract Objective: To examine the contribution of all daily activities, including non-music activities, to the overall noise exposure of college student musicians, and to compare their “noise lives” with those of non-musician college students. Design: Continuous week-long dosimetry measurements were collected on student musicians and non-musicians. During the measurement period, participants recorded their daily activities in journals. Study sample: 22 musicians and 40 non-musicians, all students (aged 18–24 years) at the University of Connecticut. Results: On every day of the week, musicians experienced significantly higher average exposure levels than did non-musicians. Nearly half (47%) of the musicians’ days exceeded a daily dose of 100%, compared with 10% of the non-musicians’ days. When the exposure due to music activities was removed, musicians still led noisier lives, largely due to participation in noisier social activities. For some musicians, non-music activities contributed a larger share of their total weekly noise exposure than did their music activities. Conclusions: Compared with their non-musician peers, college student musicians are at higher risk for noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). On a weekly basis, non-music activities may pose a greater risk to some musicians than music activities. Thus, hearing health education for musicians should include information about the contribution of lifestyle factors outside of music to NIHL risk.