Subjective tinnitus and its association with use of ear phones among students of the college of medicine, university of Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: The ear can be damaged by excessive noise levels. Noise can arise from variety of occupational/recreational sources causing tinnitus, hearing loss and hyperacusis. The use of different types of ear phones for entertainment has become very common/fashionable among our youths. Objectives: This research aims to determine the prevalence of use of ear phones for entertainment and the prevalence of subjective tinnitus in students in an urban university setting; and the relationship between the two. Methods: This is a descriptive, cross sectional study of students of the college of medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria from January to April 2012. A total of 388 willing participants (203 males, 185 females) were recruited by stratified random sampling from the 14 student hostel blocks. A self administered questionnaire was used. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 17.0.1. Results and Conclusion: The prevalence of earphone use among the students and subjective tinnitus was 95.6% and 20.6% respectively. More than 90% of the ear phone users had duration of ear phone use of duration of 3 to 6 years.