Impacts on hearing health of children and adolescents resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: To contain the expansion of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing was recommended as containment measure. The teaching remote-online due social distancing , brought the use of electronic devices of sound reproduction to the routine of children. Excessive use of this equipment can cause changes in several organs and systems including the auditory system. Objective: Thus, the study aimed to investigate the occurrence of hearing and vestibular impairment in children and adolescents resulting from sound exposure from the use of electronic equipment during the pandemic of COVID-19. Method: Descriptive study involving children and adolescents attending teaching remote-online using electronic devices during the period of social distance determined in the pandemic context of COVID-19. Participants answered a form prepared on Google Forms® about sociodemographic data, hearing health, habits of using electronic sound equipment and general health. Results: In a total of 80 participants among children and adolescents, there was a high occurrence of auditory and vestibular symptoms ranging from 16 to 27% and occurrence of non-auditory symptoms (headache, anxiety, irritability, stress, and fatigue). More than 50% of the participants use electronic equipment with sound emission for <4 hours for teaching remote-online and <3 hours for other activities. Conclusion: The prolonged use of sound electronic equipment during the social distancing during the pandemic context of COVID-19 has led to the occurrence of auditory and vestibular symptoms at an early stage, in children and adolescents, in addition to psychological symptoms that can lead to irreversible damage in the auditory and psychic system.