Prevalence, associated factors, and comorbidities of tinnitus in adolescents

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of tinnitus among adolescents, and the factors known or hypothesized to be associated with tinnitus. Based on random sampling of school types and regions, a nationwide hearing survey of the first-year middle and high school students of South Korea was performed. The subjects underwent an otologic examination followed by pure tone audiometry up to 8 kHz. Questionnaires about the factors associated with hearing and tinnitus were completed by the students and their parents. Among the 1,593 subjects who completed the questionnaire and underwent pure tone audiometry, the prevalence of tinnitus was 46.0% and that of severe tinnitus was 9.1%. Tinnitus was associated with age, female gender, history of ear infection and sinusitis, leisure noise exposure due to karaoke and local-area-network gaming, alcohol consumption, and cigarette smoking. Noticeable hearing loss was not detected but participants with tinnitus complained of difficulty with sound localization, hearing in noise, and verbal working memory and were more susceptible to fatigue. The subjects with tinnitus also suffered more physical and mental health problems than did those without tinnitus. Thus, protection of the ears from noise and appropriate counseling should be considered for adolescents with tinnitus.

Tinnitus characteristics and associated variables on Tinnitus Handicap Inventory among a Hungarian population

“…Consequently, a revised grading system is necessary for subjects of different genders groups and according to the hearing status based on the results of that study. Another investigation observed that tinnitus complaint was correlated with age, a contraindicated finding in our study population but was prominent in females according to our findings [ Rhee et al., 2020 ]. Oosterloo et al.…”

Leisure Noise Exposure and Associated Health-Risk Behavior in Adolescents: An Explanatory Study among Two Different Educational Programs in Flanders

“…Furthermore, the presence of temporary and chronic tinnitus in university students was higher as compared to adolescents in Flanders [41,42]. In addition to age, female gender, socio-economic status, attitudes, and noise exposure can be related to the occurrence of noise-induced tinnitus [20,27,28,40,43]. In the current study, another factor, educational program, influenced the presence of tinnitus.…”

Unification of Treatments and Interventions for Tinnitus Patients (UNITI): a study protocol for a multi-center randomized clinical trial

“…For many people affected, tinnitus constitutes a massive burden with many potential psychological and physiological comorbidities [ 1 , 69 , 70 ], ultimately resulting in lower quality of life [ 71 , 72 ]. The used interventions in the UNITI-RCT might have the potential for brief or even prolonged tinnitus suppression as well as to help people to better cope respectively live with their tinnitus.…”