Perspective and attitudes of teaching faculties towards their listening health in COVID-19 pandemic situation: An online survey

In the COVID-19 pandemic situation, the mode of teaching has shifted to online leading to an increase in screen time. Teachers are now forced to use headphones to improve signal-to-noise ratio. Continuous usage of headphones at high volume may result in a high risk of developing hearing loss. Objective: To understand the perspective and attitudes of teaching faculties towards their listening in the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the Google Form of Survey tool to capture the perspectives and attitudes on study population of 90 teaching faculty members regarding their listening health. Results: Despite increased screen time for teaching and learning activities, 50% agreed that personal listening device are one of the major causes for permanent hearing loss and the majority (70%) tried limit their exposure to loud music or noise indicating positive knowledge and attitude towards their listening health. Conclusion: Due to increased involvement of online activity, there is a need to create awareness on preventive measures among the teaching faculties about the risks imposed to hearing by continuous usage of earphones/ headphone, which in turn may affect their hearing health.