title: Music-listening habits with MP3 player in a group of adolescents: a descriptive survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Listening to music through portable MP3 players has become a very popular mode among young people and adolescents. The aim of this study is to investigate the behaviors of adolescents engaged in listening to music with MP3 player and the attendance at clubs (pubs, discotheques) where music is played at high volume.
  
  
  METHODS
  Among the 1470 students attending a secondary school in Scandicci (FI) during the school year 2009/2010, 1278 (86.9%) were at school the day of the examination and 1276 completely filled in the questionnaire. Descriptive analysis and univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to calculate the degree of association (OR) among the sociodemographic characteristics, listening habits and some factors identified as risky or protective as regards the possibility of developing health disorders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MP3 player users are 88.2% of the sample. Among these, a high proportion engaged behaviours that increase the risk of presenting disorders, including the exposure to high-volume (27.4%). Furthermore, 44.6% use the MP3 while driving. From the regression analysis it emerges that MP3 users showed a sort of addiction: by increasing the time and the occasions of exposure to music, they increased the volume, used maximum or medium-high volume, did not take breaks and did not decrease the volume.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study points out the spread of risky behavior in music listening, so it is necessary to better inform especially the youngsters and achieve specific preventive interventions.
authors.affiliation: School of Specialization in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, University of Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pellegrino
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lorini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Allodi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buonamici
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Garofalo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bonaccorsi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D001334:Automobile Driving; D005260:Female; D006184:Habits; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008144:Loudness Perception; D055539:MP3-Player / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D009622:Noise; D012306:Risk; D012309:Risk-Taking; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000209:etiology