66.3 pct Chinese attribute youth's hearing impairment to unhealthy lifestyles: survey

BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhua) -- A survey showed that 66.3 percent of 2,002 respondents believed unhealthy lifestyles resulted in hearing impairment among Chinese youth.

While 79.7 percent of the respondents believed they had good hearing abilities, 70.1 percent of them expressed the concern that unhealthy exposure to sounds will harm their hearing, said the survey conducted by China Youth Daily.

Excessive use of headphones or earbuds is among the common threats to young people's hearing ability, said Han Ri, a surgeon at Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, adding other reasons such as mental stress and lack of rest and sleep can cause sudden hearing loss.

"Young people should pay particular attention to their hearing ability in the midst of busy work schedules and stressful mental states. The volume and time length of headphone usage should be controlled to a moderate level, and the frequency of staying up late and being overstrained should be reduced as much as possible," Han said.

Of all the respondents, 2.2 percent are born in the 2000s, 30.1 percent in the 1990s and 50.2 percent in the 1980s.