13% of young people have incipient hearing damage

Published Jun 13, 2022

Almost all young people enjoy listening to music on their headphones, go to parties with loud music, or are exposed to loud noise during their (part-time) jobs. Unfortunately, this is not without risk. Research shows that approximately 13% of young people already have incipient hearing damage. Hearing damage is almost always permanent, meaning that young people will suffer from it for the rest of their lives.

13% of young people have incipient hearing damage

Open University, VeiligheidNL and GGD Zuid-Holland Zuid want to do something about this! That is why these organisations have launched ‘EarAct’. As part of EarAct, an educational programme for young people is being developed to prevent hearing damage caused by loud noise. To ensure that the educational programme is well aligned with their needs, research is being conducted into how young people aged 12 to 25 deal with music and sound. An online questionnaire survey will be conducted via www.eartest.nl from 30 May 2022.

Participants will receive a voucher for 50% off a set of Party Plug earplugs and will have a chance to win one of the noise-cancelling headphones being raffled.

Help out!

You can help with the research by sharing the link to the online questionnaire directly within your network, for example via a newsletter, website or social media. The questionnaire can be completed online via www.eartest.nl from 30 May through October 2022.

Are you a teacher, or do you know teachers who would like to help? You can also support the EarAct research by having pupils/students complete the online questionnaire, for example during a lesson or lecture. Would you like to discuss hearing damage with your students in response to the questionnaire? You can use the online Oorcheck hearing test and the accompanying teaching materials free of charge.

Will you participate?

The results will be used to develop an educational programme to help prevent hearing damage. Would you like additional information? Visit www.earact.nl or email [email protected].

Would you like to post something in a newsletter, on a website or on social media? You can request additional recruitment materials, such as flyers and banners, as well as further tips, by emailing [email protected].

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