More people suffering serious injury or death while wearing headphones

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJan 17 2012

A latest US study shows that more people are suffering serious injury or death while wearing headphones. The number has tripled in six years.

An increase in the use of headphones while walking in the street has led to a dramatic rise in the number of injuries, with teenagers, men and young adults the most at risk from hurting themselves while their thoughts were elsewhere, the study says. Researchers looked at reports from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Google news archives and the Westlaw Campus Research database from Jan. 1, 2004 to June 1, 2011.

They found that 116 people in the US wearing headphones had died or been seriously hurt during that period. The number of people who died or were injured leapt from 16 in 2004-05 to 47 in 2010-11. Most victims were men (68%) and under the age of 30 (67%), with about one in 10 of all cases under the age of 18. Of the accidents studied, 89% occurred in urban areas, and more than half of the victims – 55% – were struck by trains. According to the study, published online in the journal Injury Prevention, 81 of the 116 incidents, or 70%, resulted in death.

The study did not look at cases involving mobile phones, including hands-free sets – found that the wearing of headphones may in many cases have played a direct part in the incident, as the users could not hear warnings that they were in danger. In 29% of the cases, an explicit warning – such as a shout, a horn or a siren – had been sounded before the accident.

“Sensory deprivation that results from using headphones with electronic devices may be a unique problem in pedestrian incidents, where auditory cues can be more important than visual ones,” they wrote.

The experts concluded, “The use of headphones with handheld devices may pose a safety risk to pedestrians, especially in environments with moving vehicles. Further research is needed to determine if and how headphone use compromises pedestrian safety.” Previous studies have shown that people wearing headphones – or who are distracted because they are talking on a mobile phone – can be affected by “inattentional blindness”, a reduction in attention to external stimuli that has also been dubbed “iPod oblivion”. This can result, for example, in people paying less attention to traffic when crossing the street. Headphone wearers have also been shown to suffer a reduced ability to hear a range of ambient noises.

“Everybody is aware of the risk of cell phones and texting in automobiles, but I see more and more teens distracted with the latest devices and headphones in their ears,” says lead author Richard Lichenstein, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of pediatric emergency medicine research at the University of Maryland Medical Center. “Unfortunately as we make more and more enticing devices, the risk of injury from distraction and blocking out other sounds increases.”

Kevin Clinton, the head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said, “Although we do not have robust data about this type of accident in the UK, we have heard of cases in which pedestrians have been knocked down while listening to headphones or talking on mobile phones. If you are using these devices while walking, RoSPA advises that you ensure you are not dangerously distracted and that you remain aware of what is happening around you.”

Limitations of the study included relying on media reporting, “which likely over-publishes tragic events but vastly under-publishes non-fatal cases,” according to the study. Suicidal intentions, substance abuse, mental illness and driver error may also have had a role in some of the pedestrian injuries and fatalities, the researchers said.

“This research is a wonderful example of taking what our physicians see every day in the hospital and applying a broader scientific view to uncover a troubling societal problem that needs greater awareness,” says E. Albert Reece, vice president for medical affairs at the University of Maryland and John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “I hope that these results will help to significantly reduce incidence of injuries and lead us to a better understanding of how such injuries occur and how we can prevent them.”

Dr. Lichenstein says the study was initiated after reviewing a tragic pediatric death where a local teen died crossing railroad tracks. The teen was noted to be wearing headphones and did not avoid the oncoming train despite auditory alarms. Further review revealed other cases not only in Maryland but in other states too.  “As a pediatric emergency physician and someone interested in safety and prevention I saw this as an opportunity to - at minimum - alert parents of teens and young adults of the potential risk of wearing headphones where moving vehicles are present,” he says.