TABLE 1.
Participant characteristics at baseline and during the music festival.
| Characteristics | Males (n = 14) | Females (n = 18) | t/χ2 | P |
| Age, mean (SD) | 25 (2.9) | 23 (1.7) | 1.888 | 0.069 |
| Previous visits to music festivals/concerts/nightclubs | 4.092 | 0.129 | ||
| ≤once/year, n (%) | 5 (35.7) | 2 (11.1) | ||
| ≥2 times/year, n (%) | 7 (50) | 15 (83.3) | ||
| ≥2 times/month, n (%) | 2 (14.3) | 1 (5.6) | ||
| Tinnitus history | 0.552 | 0.759 | ||
| Almost never, n (%) | 11 (78.6) | 12 (66.7) | ||
| Yes, spontaneously, n (%) | 2 (14.3) | 4 (22.2) | ||
| Yes, after exposure to noise, n (%) | 1 (7.1) | 2 (11.1) | ||
| Previous use of personal earphones | 1.169 | 0.557 | ||
| Almost never, n (%) | 2 (14.3) | 5 (27.8) | ||
| 0–2 h/day, n (%) | 8 (57.1) | 10 (55.6) | ||
| 2–5 h/day, n (%) | 4 (28.6) | 3 (16.7) | ||
| Previous use of earplugs | 0.803 | 0.370 | ||
| Almost never, n (%) | 14 (100) | 17 (94.4) | ||
| Yes, n (%) | 0 (0) | 1 (5.6) | ||
| Self-reported hearing difficulty | 3.418 | 0.181 | ||
| Almost never, n (%) | 5 (35.7) | 2 (11.1) | ||
| Yes, only amid noise, n (%) | 6 (42.9) | 13 (72.2) | ||
| Yes, in daily life, n (%) | 3 (21.3) | 3 (16.7) | ||
| During festival | ||||
| Duration of visit, mean (SD), hours | 7.2 (0.9) | 7.4 (0.4) | –0.750 | 0.463 |
| TWA, mean (SD), dB(A) | 93.8 (1.6) | 93.4 (1.8) | 0.769 | 0.448 |
| LCpeak, mean (SD), dB | 136.7 (4.0) | 133.8 (3.7) | –2.074 | 0.047 |
SD, standard deviation; TWA, time-weighted average. There were no statistically significant differences in most characteristics except for the LCpeak between male and female participants. Analyses were performed by the unpaired t-test or χ2 test.