Manchester Centre for Health Psychology, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2020 Oct 9;20(1):1529. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-09602-8.
Hearing loss is prevalent and disabling, yet little is known about the extent of recreational noise exposure and hearing protection use. The aim of the present research was to estimate the extent of recreational noise exposure and hearing protection use in a sample representative of the UK adult population.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 10,401 UK adults who were representative of the population.
More than 7000 people (n = 7590, 73.0%) reported exposure to recreational noise excluding headphone and earphone use in the last 12 months. Just 158 people (2.1%) reported wearing hearing protection for every noisy recreational activity. Age (younger people) and beliefs of a behavioral (as opposed to genetic) cause of hearing loss were predictive of both higher recreational noise exposure and greater hearing protection use. Men were more exposed to recreational noise but women were less likely to use hearing protection.
For the first time, the present research quantifies the recreational noise exposure and low levels of hearing protection use in a representative sample of the UK population. The biggest public health gains are likely to be achieved through interventions targeted at younger people and in explaining behavioral (as opposed to genetic) causes of hearing loss.
听力损失普遍存在且具有致残性，但对于娱乐性噪声暴露和听力保护的使用程度知之甚少。本研究旨在评估具有英国成年人口代表性的样本中娱乐性噪声暴露和听力保护的使用程度。
我们对 10401 名具有代表性的英国成年人进行了横断面调查。
超过 7000 人（n=7590，73.0%）报告在过去 12 个月中接触过除耳机和耳塞使用之外的娱乐性噪声。仅有 158 人（2.1%）报告在每次进行嘈杂的娱乐活动时都使用听力保护装置。年龄（年轻人）和对听力损失行为（而非遗传）原因的信念既预测了更高的娱乐性噪声暴露，也预测了更广泛的听力保护使用。男性接触的娱乐性噪声更多，但女性使用听力保护装置的可能性较小。
本研究首次在英国代表性人群中定量评估了娱乐性噪声暴露和听力保护装置低使用率的情况。最有可能取得重大公共卫生成效的措施是针对年轻人开展干预措施，并解释听力损失的行为（而非遗传）原因。
