Is Australia listening? Attitudes to hearing loss
This study, conducted by Quantum Market Research on behalf of Australian Hearing, involved an online survey of 1,000 Australian adults. The survey asked participants about their perceptions of and behaviours regarding healthy hearing. The 'most glaring results' to be found in the research related to young Australians' perceptions and awareness of healthy hearing.
Selected findings:
- While 80% of Australian adults surveyed were aware that damaged or impaired hearing cannot be restored to its original state, 26 % of 18-24 year olds did not know this and 15% did not know that loud music could be damaging to their hearing (p.8).
- Close to 60% of Australians reported suffering from noticeable tinnitus, with a higher prevalence among younger Australians aged 18-34 years (approximately 70%) (p.13).
- Younger Australians were 'less likely than older Australians to avoid noisy places for the sake of their hearing' or were hearing protection, but were more inclined to control the volume of their headphones (p.14).
- Young people aged 18-24 years 'were least likely to identify the link between loud noise and short-term hearing damage', leading researchers to conclude that the 'severity and permanency of the impact of loud music and venues to their hearing has not yet been accepted by the younger age group' (p.10).
Sources:
Quantum Market Research 2008, Is Australia listening? Attitudes to hearing loss, Australian Hearing, viewed 15 August 2008,
http://www.hearing.com.au/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=235&languageId=1&contentId=1263
Herald Sun, 10 June 2008, p.9.
http://www.hearing.com.au/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=235&languageId=1&contentId=1263
Herald Sun, 10 June 2008, p.9.
How Australians use their time, 2006 (Australian Bureau of Statistics)
How Australians use their time, 2006 contains findings from the third Australian Time Use Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
It provides comparative information over a fifteen-year period about how Australians distribute their time across "necessary' activities (life survival), "contracted' activities (work and education), "committed' activities (family and household) and "free time'. The survey includes a component on young people (15-24 years); the following are selected findings related to this group.
Summary:
'The use of time by young people on average is different to the patterns observed for older age groups - they sleep more and spend more time in education, but spend a lot less time on domestic activities and child care. However, the young age group is a diverse group of students and non-students, the employed and those that are not employed, and their use of time changes markedly depending on these personal characteristics and on their living arrangements.'
Selected findings:
- The amount of time young people spent sleeping (9 hours and 2 minutes) was more than half an hour per day longer than for all persons (8 hours 31 minutes), with young females sleeping significantly longer than young males.
- On average, young men spent 2 hours 23 minutes per day on education, while young women spent an average of 2 hours 22 minutes on education.
- 'While young men overall spent an average 4 hours 5 minutes a week on domestic activities, those who were studying full time spent much less time (2 hours 59 minutes a week) while those not studying at all spent more time than the average (5 hours 16 minutes a week). Young women spent, on average, much more time on domestic activities than young men (6 hours 46 minutes a week), with those not studying spending 9 hours 40 minutes.'
- 'Young men, on average, spent 33 hours 57 minutes a week on recreation and leisure activities. Those who were employed full-time spent much less (28 hours 24 minutes per week) and those not employed spent much more (39 hours 57 minutes). Most time was spent by young men in "TV watching and listening" and "other audio/visual" activities, together accounting for a little over half of the recreation and leisure time of young men regardless of their labour force status.'
- 'Young women, on average, spent much less time than young men on recreation and leisure activities (29 hours 3 minutes per week). As with men, those women who were employed full-time spent much less time in recreation and leisure, while those not employed spent much more (33 hours 43 minutes). And as with men, the main activities of young women were "TV watching and listening" and "other audio/visual" activities accounting for a little over half of all recreation and leisure time regardless of labour force status.'
- Young people spent around 30 hours a week with friends.
- 'In 2006, young men spent around 18 hours a week alone, compared with about 15 hours a week for young women.'
Source:
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006, How Australians use their time, 2006, ABS, Canberra, viewed 13 August 2008,
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4153.0Main%20Features22006?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4153.0&issue=2006&num=&view
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4153.0Main%20Features22006?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4153.0&issue=2006&num=&view