Survey of Teen Noise Exposure and Efforts to Protect Hearing at School — United States, 2020

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a substantial, often unrecognized, health problem. Various learning environments and activities in school settings are loud. Researchers have reported the prevalence of NIHL among U.S. adolescents ranging between 12.8% and 17.5%, suggesting that one in every six to eight middle and high school students (aged 12–19 years) has measurable hearing loss likely resulting from excessive noise exposure (1). Evidence suggests that even mild levels of hearing loss negatively affect auditory perception and cognitive skills.* CDC analyzed data from a sample of 817 youths aged 12–17 years who responded to the web-based YouthStyles survey in 2020. The survey measured the frequency of exposure to loud noise in school settings, the provision of hearing protection devices (HPDs) during exposure, and whether prevention techniques were part of their educational curriculum. Approximately three in four teenage students reported being exposed to loud sound at school, and nearly one half (46.5%) of respondents reported exposure to loud sounds at school on a regular basis. A majority of students (85.9%) reported that their school did not provide HPDs during classes or activities where they were exposed to loud sounds, and seven out of 10 reported they were never taught how to protect their hearing. Increasing youth’s awareness about the adverse health effects of excessive noise exposure and simple preventive measures to reduce risk can help prevent or reduce NIHL. Health care providers and educators have resources and tools available to prevent NIHL among school-aged children. Increased efforts are needed to promote prevention.

Schools in the United States utilize a variety of policies and practices to ensure that students and staff members are safe from a wide range of physical hazards, including excessive noise exposure. CDC reported that approximately one half of schools (56.5%) and school districts (61.3%) require students to use HPDs during classes or activities in which they are exposed to potentially unsafe noise levels (2). That study, a data source for a Healthy People 2020 objective (ECBP-4.6),^† demonstrated a marked decrease from 49.4% in 2006 to 35.0% in 2014 in the proportion of K-12 schools educating students in the prevention of vision and hearing loss.

The current study used data from Porter Novelli’s 2020 YouthStyles^§ survey via Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel,^¶ an online panel representative of the noninstitutionalized U.S. population. YouthStyles is part of a series of web-based surveys conducted to gather insights about U.S. consumers, including information about their health, attitudes, and behaviors. The survey was fielded during June 10–25, 2020; participants were youths aged 12–17 years residing with parents who are members of the adult SummerStyles panel. Members are randomly recruited by mail using probability-based sampling by address to reach respondents regardless of whether they have landline phones or Internet access. If needed, households are provided with a laptop or tablet and access to the Internet. Parents participated in their survey portion immediately before their child’s survey participation and provided electronic consent for their child to participate. Youth-adult dyad households who completed the survey received 10,000 cash-equivalent reward points (worth approximately $10) to be split between the parent and youth respondents. Respondents were not required to answer individual questions and could exit the survey at any time.

The resulting data were weighted to match March 2019 U.S. Census estimates. The adult data were weighted using nine factors: gender, age, household income, race/ethnicity, household size, education, census region, metro status, and parental status of children aged 12–17 years. Youth weights were based off the final adult weights (which incorporate the previously mentioned nine factors) and then adjusted for the following seven factors: youth gender, youth age, household income, youth race/ethnicity, number of teenagers in the household, census region, and metro status. Personal identifiers were not included in the data file. Three questions were included related to this study. Participants were asked to indicate their responses with a forced choice scale (e.g., always, usually, seldom, never). For analysis, researchers dichotomized student answers into two categories for student exposure (every day or two to four times per week/never or every few months), provision of HPDs (always or usually/seldom or never), and hearing protection education (never/at least once or several times). Analyses were conducted using SAS software (version 9.4; SAS Institute). The PROC SURVEYFREQ procedure of SAS was used for descriptive analysis. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (aORs), 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and p-values (α = 0.05).

A total of 817 youths (among 1,700 sampled parents) qualified and completed the survey, for a response rate of 48.1%. Among the youths surveyed, 73.6% reported exposure to loud sound at school for >15 minutes a day and nearly one half (46.5%) reported exposure every day or two to four times per week (Table 1). Of those students who reported any exposure, the majority (85.9%) reported that their school did not provide HPDs (seldom or never) during classes or activities where they were exposed to loud sounds. In addition, 70.4% of all respondents reported that they never had a class or coursework that taught how to protect hearing from noise. Most surveyed students were White (51.6%) or lived in a metropolitan area (86.5%). There was no significant difference in exposure reported by sex (Table 2). Students in the South were more likely to be exposed to loud sounds at school on a regular basis than were students in the Northeast (aOR = 1.7; 95% CI = 1.1–2.5). Students at schools with classes or coursework providing information about hearing protection from noise were more likely to report that they were provided with hearing protection devices (aOR = 5.4; 95% CI = 3.3–8.9). Students from households with an average income ≥$150,000 were significantly less likely to have hearing protection provided by the school (aOR = 0.2; 95% CI = 0.1–0.5).

Acknowledgments

Members of the CDC Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Workgroup; Office of Laboratory Science, CDC; Safety and the School Health Branch, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC.

Corresponding author: John Eichwald, jeichwald@cdc.gov, 404-498-3961.

¹Office of Science, National Center for Environment Health, CDC; ²Office of Innovation and Analytics, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta, Georgia.

References

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Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval; NA = not applicable.
* Panelists were asked “During a normal school year, how often were you exposed to loud sounds at school for more than 15 minutes a day, such as music or industrial arts classes, cafeteria, sporting or dance events? By loud sounds, we mean sounds so loud that you had to raise your voice to be heard by someone at arm’s length.”
^† Panelists were asked “How often does your school provide hearing protection devices, such as earplugs or earmuffs, during classes or activities where you are exposed to loud sounds, such as industrial arts classes and marching band?”
^§ Panelists were asked “How often have you had a class or coursework that taught you about how to protect your hearing from noise?”
^¶ Persons who identified as White, Black, Asian, or other or multiracial were all non-Hispanic. Persons who identified as Hispanic might be of any race.
** Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Abbreviations: aOR = adjusted odds ratio; CI = confidence interval; NA = not applicable.
* Panelists were asked “During a normal school year, how often were you exposed to loud sounds at school for more than 15 minutes a day, such as music or industrial arts classes, cafeteria, sporting or dance events? By loud sounds, we mean sounds so loud that you had to raise your voice to be heard by someone at arm’s length.”
^† Panelists were asked “How often does your school provide hearing protection devices, such as earplugs or earmuffs, during classes or activities where you are exposed to loud sounds, such as industrial arts classes and marching band?”
^§ Panelists were asked “How often have you had a class or coursework that taught you about how to protect your hearing from noise?”
^¶ Persons who identified as White, Black, Asian, or other or multiracial were all non-Hispanic. Persons who identified as Hispanic might be of any race.
** Statistical difference at p<0.05 compared with the referent group.
^†† Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.