title: Pattern of Use of Earphone and Music Player Devices among Iranian Adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is no information about the pattern of use of earphones and music players in Iranian adolescents. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and pattern of the use of earphone and music player devices as a main risk factor for hearing loss in adolescents of Tabriz city, northwest of Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study in November 2011, 2,359 high school students were randomly selected and were asked to complete a 20-item questionnaire about the pattern of using earphones and music players.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that 44.3% [confidence interval (CI) 95%: 38.3-50.3] of the respondents had a history of hearing problems that was significantly different between males and females (42.2% of males and 47% of females, p: 0.02). Notably, 36.8% of the participants stated that they listened to music without any rest or stop. Almost 49.6% (CI 95%: 44.4-54.4) of the students reported listening to 'somewhat loud' (gain setting at 50%) or 'very loud' (gain setting more than 50%) volume level of music. In terms of the kind of earphones, 17.1% of the participants used headphones, 34.8% used earbud-style headphones, 32.3% used supra-aural headphones, and 15.8% of them did not use any type of earphones.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Students have risky patterns of using earphones and music-listening devices. Planning educational programs in this domain for adolescents especially in high schools is necessary.
authors.affiliation: Health Promotion Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ansari
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
authors.forename: Asghar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohammadpoorasl
authors.affiliation: Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rostami
authors.affiliation: Tabriz Health Services Management Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahdieh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maleki
authors.affiliation: Tabriz Health Services Management Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Hassan
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Sahebihagh
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Kourosh Holakouie
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Naieni
keywords: Adolescents; Iran; earphone; hearing loss; music player