MOBILE PHONE USERS AND ITS EFFECT OF HEARING IN TERMS OF DISTORTION PRODUCT OTOACOUSTIC EMISSION (DPOAE).

Corresponding Author:
Gaurav Kumar,
1404, HIG, Sector-I,
L. D. A, Kanpur Road,
Near Pakri Pul,
Lucknow-226012,
Uttar Pradesh, India.
E-mail: kumargaurav.1014@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Cellular phones/ mobile phones are the new addiction in today’s society. They can do pretty much everything from making calls to controlling remotely located devices/cameras. Mobile phones, owing to their user-friendly interface and reasonable prices are being used by people from every socioeconomic section and almost all the age groups. Such a rampant use of these devices makes them potentially powerful tools. The convenience, that these devices offer, easily overlooks the cost our health has to pay because of their continuous and prolonged use. The main technology that these devices use nowadays is Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). Mobile phones emit a pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic (EM) field that may have adverse effects. The Disturbances of the mechanoelectrical transduction during cellular phone use, especially because there is a close proximity of the cellular phone to the cochlea resulting in a fairly high absorption rate of the incident electromagnetic field (EM).

Aim- To assess hearing loss in mobile phone users.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is a descriptive study conducted among mobile phone users in the Department of ENT at T.S. Misra Medical College and Hospital from January 2017 to June 2018 consisting of 190 healthy volunteers between the age of 21 and 50 years.

RESULTS

Mostly in Rt. handed mobile user had shown Refer/Fail OAE 21%, out of which, higher frequency 6 KHz is affected more in comparison of all four frequency of (2, 3, 4 & 6 KHz).

CONCLUSION

The study concludes that the use of mobile phones can cause damage to the Outer Hair Cells (OHCs) in the Cochlea especially in the basal turn which may impair hearing in long term use. Oto Acoustic Emissions from the cochlea can reliably detect this damage and thus has proven to be an excellent diagnostic tool.

KEY WORDS

Mobile Phone, Electromagnetic Field, DPOAE.