Objectives/Hypothesis To evaluate the prevalence, characteristics, and associated risk factors of tinnitus in U.S. adolescents. Study Design Cross‐sectional analyses of U.S. representative demographic and audiometric data, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005 to 2008. Methods The study population consisted of 3,520 individuals aged 12 to 19 years with complete tinnitus‐related data. Tinnitus was defined as the presence of ringing or buzzing in the ears lasting for at least 5 minutes during the preceding 12 months. In addition, we defined a chronic tinnitus subgroup as being bothered by tinnitus for more than 3 months. Demographic and other data regarding tinnitus, smoking, body mass index (BMI), anemia, hypertension, history of ear infections, tympanostomy tube placement, otoscopy, tympanometry and hearing thresholds, history of firearm use, and recreational and occupational exposure to noise were extracted and analyzed. Results Overall, tinnitus lasting 5 minutes or more in the preceding 12 months was reported by 7.5% of the 12‐ to 19‐year‐old population. This represents about 2.5 million adolescents in the United States. The prevalence of chronic tinnitus was 4.7%, corresponding to about 1.6 million adolescents in the United States. Multivariable‐adjusted analysis revealed that both overall and chronic tinnitus were associated with female gender, low income, exposure to passive smoking, type A tympanogram, and occupational and recreational noise exposure. History of ≥3 ear infections and history of tympanostomy tube placement were associated only with overall tinnitus. Conclusions Tinnitus afflicts a substantial portion of the youth population. Further investigation of the association between tinnitus and the identified risk factors is warranted. Level of Evidence N/A. Laryngoscope, 123:2001–2008, 2013

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Objectives To estimate the prevalence and risk factors for Noise-Induced Hearing Threshold Shift (NITS) in the U.S. adult population based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). Methods This study population consisted of 5,418 individuals aged 20 to 69 years who had complete audiologic data from the NHANES database. Stringent criteria were used to define NITS. Prevalence of unilateral, bilateral and total NITS and their association with several sociodemographic and hearing related factors were evaluated. Results The prevalence of unilateral, bilateral and total NITS was 9.4%, 3.4% and 12.8% respectively. Prevalence of bilateral NITS was higher in subjects with older age, male gender, white (non-Hispanic) and Hispanic ethnicities, education level less than or equal to high school diploma, married/living with partner status, Mexico as country of birth, service in armed forces, smoking history, diabetes and different kinds of noise exposure. Odds of NITS were only higher in older people, males and smokers. Conclusion This study provides comprehensive information on the prevalence of NITS in the U.S. adult population and within the various risk factors. More targeted interventions may be done for educational, preventative, and screening purposes.

Although microcystic and macrocystic lesions have different clinical behavior, they have indistinguishable histological features and immunohistochemical staining for markers of lymphatic endothelium. These findings suggest that both microcystic and macrocystic lesions are derived from similar tissue but may behave differently based on their anatomic microenvironment.