AUDIOLOGICAL DISTURBANCES IN CHRONIC MOBILE PHONE USERS

Naveen Sharma, Uma Garg, Deepak Verma* and Sandeep Ranjan

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To study the effects of long term exposure to electromagnetic waves emitted from mobile phones on auditory functions. Methods: The study included 50 mobile phone users between the age group of 17 to 42 years with decreased hearing as chief complaint. The use of mobile phone is so common that we couldn’t find non-users as a control group. Therefore we compared the non-dominant ear to the dominant ear using audiometric measurements. Detailed evaluation included thorough case history through questionnaire, Otoscopic clinical examination followed by Pure Tone Audiometry & Impedance Audiometry. Comparison was made between total exposure duration with associated symptoms & with pattern of hearing loss. Results: We found significant hearing loss in the dominant ear as compared to non dominant ear in our study, ranged from minimal to severe based upon the duration of exposure. Definite patterns of hearing loss were observed, with high frequencies affected initially and followed by hearing loss at lower frequencies. Conclusion: This study concluded that prolonged use of mobile phones predispose to auditory disturbance in terms of hearing loss in the dominant (exposed) ear and it was found to be correlated with the duration of usage and length of years using mobile phones.

Keywords: Mobile phones, Electromagnetic radiation, High frequency hearing loss.