Background:
Noise exposure damages cochlear hair cells resulting in sensorineural hearing loss along with other symptoms like tinnitus and vertigo. One source of loud sound exposure in young adults is personal music systems (PMS). The present study investigated the auditory- related symptoms in regular PMS users by administering a questionnaire on PMS usage and associated symptoms in individuals who were regular users of PMS and compared results with non-regular PMS users.

Material and methods:
There were 260 young adults who participated in the study. Individuals who used PMS for ≥1 hour per day at a volume control setting of ≥60% for ≥2 years were considered regular PMS users, while other participants were considered non-regular PMS users. A custom-made questionnaire with a total of 24 questions was administered to all participants.

Results:
Statistical analysis indicated that the occurrence of symptoms such as reduced hearing and vertigo were significantly higher in regular PMS users than in non-regular users. However, other symptoms such as tinnitus, difficulty in perception of speech in noisy situations, ear pain, and headache were not significantly different between the groups.

Conclusions:
The findings substantiate the harmful effects of regular PMS usage on hearing and related functions. They also document the incidence of associated symptoms.