Background: Ear infections are serious complications associated with personal audio device (PAD) users who wear them for extended periods of time as prolonged use can affect oral hygiene. Therefore, this study aimed to provide preliminary data about PAD usage among high school students in Buraydah and to evaluate their knowledge, attitudes, and practices.
Methodology: This is an analytic cross-sectional study conducted among 768 students. A two-stage, cluster random sample of public high school students, in Buraydah, of both sexes between the age of 15 and 19 years were recruited. A self-administered questionnaire, adapted from the personal listening device and hearing questionnaire, was used to collect data from high school students.
Results: This study was applied to a total of 768 students with the mean age of 16.79 ± 1.1 years, with females representing 51.7% of the sample. The majority of those surveyed (90%) owned and used PADs and 76.8% preferred using earphones. The chi-squared test showed a significant association (p = 0.024) between gender and use of PADs, as the prevalence of use was increased among female students. Around 40% of the students used PADs daily, and majority of them used it continuously for only an hour or less. As for the volume, 62.6% of the student used medium volume.
Conclusion: The study showed that the high school students had a risky pattern of using PADs, such as headphones/earphones, even though they were aware of the fact that these may lead to hearing impairments.
Key words: PADs, hearing, students, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia
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