RESPONSIBLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP VISION DEVELOPMENT AND ETHICS

244 RESPONSIBLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Noise related health problems
Young people are likely to experience noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), as the use of
personal listening devices and other damaging factors (e.g., video games) increases (Hendershot
et al. 2011; Gilles & Paul 2014). The U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication
Disorders reports approximately 28 million Americans have lost some or all of
their hearing, including 17 in 1.000 children under age 18 (Rydzynski & Jung 2008). Noise
exposure is increasingly common in the age of iPods and other personal music players (Haller
and Montgomery 2004). WHO estimates that 1.1 billion young people worldwide could be
at risk of hearing loss due to unsafe listening practices (Krug et al. 2015). Nearly half of all
teenagers and young adults (12 – 35 years old) in middle- and high-income countries are
exposed to unsafe levels of sound from the use of personal audio devices and some 40% of
them are exposed to potentially damaging sound levels at clubs, discotheques and bars (Krug
et al. 2015). Analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in
the United States suggests that, between 1994 and 2006, the prevalence of hearing loss among
teenagers (12-19 years old) rose from 3.5% to 5.3%. Another study from the USA indicates
that the number of individuals listening to music through headphones and earphones increased
by 75% between 1990 and 2005 (Haller and Montgomery 2004). A 2008 European Commission
report noted that personal audio devices are being used by an increasing proportion of
the population; from 2004 to 2007, unit sales within the European Union are estimated to
have been between 184 and 246 million (Rydzynski & Jung 2008). In recent years, music
players have been increasingly replaced by smartphones. Worldwide sales of smartphones in
2015 amounted to 1.424 million units, and this figure is rising. A study by Judy Montgomery
(Haller & Montgomery 2004) found that 7% of second-graders, 15% of eighth-graders, and
13% of twelfth-graders and 26% of high school seniors who played in the band had a measurable
hearing loss. As early as 1972, David Lipscomb studied 1,000 sixth, ninth, and twelfth
graders and found that 3.8% of sixth graders, 11% of ninth graders and 10.6% of twelfth graders
failed the hearing screening. A follow-up study by David Lipscomb in 1972 studied the hearing
of college freshmen and found that 32.9% of one group and 60.7% in a second group had
a measurable high-frequency hearing loss. In a more recent study (1996), the Center for Hearing
and Communication found that 10% of ninth graders failed a hearing screening and that
these students had never before been identified as having hearing difficulties. Furthermore,
their teachers reported that these students exhibited learning and behavior problems in the
class. The results show that 14.1% of 18- to 35-year-old Australians may be at risk of hearing
damage from excessive leisure noise exposure at nightclubs and pubs/bars, fitness classes,
sports events, and music concerts/live music venues (Beach, Williams, & Gilliver 2013).
Current solution
Noise related problems are currently solved in many different ways. In most cases, children
are left to themselves and the awareness level of their parents. Usually the approach
towards addressing the problem is with the new focused regulations and prevention activities
on several levels. Universities, health organizations, industries, government agencies, and
different not listed organizations also produce materials that could be used as part of a hearing
prevention curriculum (Folmer, Griest, & Martin 2002). It is important that the programs