The College of Nursing and Health Sciences has employed the services of an unlikely candidate in their effort to combat the increasing number of students experiencing noise-induced hearing loss. Her name is Jolene, and despite not talking much, she’s helping raise awareness about the dangers of playing music on headphones at unsafe levels.

Jolene, who is actually a mannequin with a built-in sound decibel meter, has been touring local high schools and colleges with students in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders to measure the sound levels at which students are listening to music. By placing their headphones or earbuds to Jolene’s ear, which is embedded with a sound decibel meter, students can find out whether they are over the recommended decibel level of 85dB for eight hours.

Most students are surprised to hear that listening to an iPhone at full volume for more than 7.5 minutes can cause irreversible damage to their inner ear. In fact, 12.5 percent of 6-19 year-olds (6.8 million) and 16.8 percent of 12-19 year-olds (5 million) in the U.S. have documented evidence of elevated hearing thresholds directly attributed to noise exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These numbers continue to increase as children are now using headphones at an earlier age than previous generations.

“It’s something we’ve been working on for years and have felt was a priority to address the increasing numbers of students who are experiencing noise-induced hearing loss,” says Dinah Smith, clinical associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and a licensed audiologist. “Our students have really benefited from Jolene and have enjoyed taking her to schools to raise awareness about this issue, which most students are unaware is affecting them.”

Smith, the driving force behind bringing Jolene to UVM, credits a donation from alumna Debby Finn '74 as instrumental in funding the design and construction of Jolene at the Instrumentation & Model Facility (IMF). Founded in 1969, IMF works with researchers at UVM and other institutions to create custom instruments, integrated systems, prototypes, precision parts and models.

IMF constructed Jolene in accordance with specifications provided by her creator, Dangerous Decibels, an organization dedicated to reducing noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ear). IMF engineer, Jeff Hildebrand, built Jolene out of used parts from a fashion mannequin and attached a sound level meter wired to a silicon ear.

“It is exciting for me to see our students making a difference in prevention efforts for our youth in the communiy," says Patricia Prelock, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. "This is an opportunity for them to share all that they are learning about noise induced hearing loss and the larger impact on communication in a way that young people can make sense of and adjust their behavior. It is all part of our larger effort to contribute to population health.”

Smith says the information that Jolene produces is critical because some students play their iPhone at full volume, which can reach levels up to 115 decibels, well above the safe limit. Every time the number of decibels goes up by 5, the safe time limit is cut in half. For example, a student is listening to music at 90 dB should do so for only four hours, compared to listening at 95 dB for two hours. Even a small amount of hearing loss can have serious negative effects on speech and language comprehension, resulting in poorer academic achievement.

Smith, along with Elizabeth Adams, clinical professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and a licensed audiologist, provide clinical instruction and direct patient care at the Eleanor M. Luse Center's Audiology Clinic, a non-profit clinic that is the primary training site for students in the CSD department. Adams, who cautions that hearing loss from noise exposure is permanent, emphasizes that hearing loss can also have serious psycho-social consequences for an individual, regardless of age or the degree. These include embarrassment, social isolation, anger, frustration, depression, and loneliness. "Awareness of the potential trauma to the ears is the first step in prevention of hearing loss," she says. "Jolene and our students have been critical in getting that information out there."

“Most students at UVM are surprised to hear that they are listening to music at unsafe levels,” says senior Emily Bauer, a member of the UVM Speech and Hearing Club who brings Jolene to the Davis Center to entice students to test the decibel levels of their devices. “A lot of people turn up their music when they go running and don’t realize the damage it’s causing. Younger kids today are the first to have spent their entire lives listening to music at higher levels, so it's a serious issue."

PUBLISHED

05-03-2016
Jon Reidel