Exposure to high levels of music that could lead to music induced hearing loss (MIHL) has been of recent interest especially for young adults, considering their excessive use of personal listening devices such as MP3 player. More attention should be drawn to MIHL for noting that early noise exposure leads to earlier onset of presbycusis. In search of appropriate and safe listening habits for young adults, this investigation was aimed to evaluate output levels and frequencies generated by the Samsung galaxy note MP3 player depending on two earphone types; ear-bud and over-the-ear earphones and three music genres; rock, hip-hop, ballade. A sound level meter was used to measure output level and frequency spectrum between 12.5 and 16000 Hz at all 1/3-octave bands. The following results can be summarized. 1) The earphone styles did not produce significant difference in output levels, but the music genres did. However, the results of music genres varied. 2) Neither earphone styles nor music genres produced significant difference in frequency response spectrum, except music genres at the volume settings we usually listen to. Additionally, volume levels should be lower than 50% for usual listening situation. Through this investigation, it was noted that the frequency range was substantial between 50 and 1000 Hz regardless of the styles of earphones and music genres, implying that we should be cautious of this frequency range when we listen to music. Researchers should give more attention to the effects of the mixture of output level and frequency spectrum, considering that the auditory system has frequency specificity from the periphery to the central to provide refined methods for protecting our ears from MIHL.
Ear ; Galaxies ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; MP3-Player ; Music ; Noise ; Presbycusis ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Wrist-worn wearable devices provide heart rate (HR) monitoring function via photoplethysmography technology. Recently, these devices have been used by patients to measure the HR when palpitation occurs, but few validation studies of these instruments have been conducted. We assessed the accuracy of these devices for measuring a HR. METHODS: This study enrolled 51 consecutive patients with a history of paroxysmal supraventricular tachyarrhythmia (SVT) or paroxysmal palpitations who were scheduled to undergo an electrophysiological study (EPS). Three devices were assessed: Apple Watch Series 2 (Apple), Samsung Galaxy Gear S3 (Galaxy), and Fitbit Charge 2 (Fitbit). Patients were randomly assigned to wear 2 different devices. The HR at baseline and induced SVT were measured during the EPS. After successful ablation of SVT, HR measurements was also done during atrial and ventricular pacing study. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 44.4±16.6 years and 27 patients were male (53%). The accuracy (within ±5 beats per minute [bpm] of an electrocardiogram [ECG] measurement) of the baseline HR measurements was 100%, 100%, and 94%, for Apple, Galaxy, and Fitbit, respectively. The HR during induced SVT ranged from 108 bpm to 228 bpm and the accuracy (within ±10 bpm of an ECG) was 100%, 90%, and 87% for the Apple, Galaxy, and Fitbit, respectively. During pacing study, accuracy of these devices was also acceptable but tended to decrease as the HR increased, and showed differences between the devices. CONCLUSIONS: Wrist-worn wearable devices accurately measure baseline and induced SVT HR. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Research Information Service Identifier: KCT0002282
Electrocardiography ; Galaxies ; Heart Rate ; Heart ; Humans ; Information Services ; Male ; Photoplethysmography ; Tachycardia ; Tachycardia, Supraventricular