Impact Of Sensorineural Hearing Loss On Subjective Tinnitus Quality In Patients With Bilateral Tinnitus.

INTRODUCTION: Tinnitus is a frequent condition that indicates the sensation of sound in the absence of a corresponding external stimulus and can significantly impair the quality of life. The main risk factor for developing tinnitus is hearing loss. The diagnosis of tinnitus is based on history, assessment of tinnitus severity, clinical examination, and audiological tests. The main purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between the presence and level of hearing loss and the characteristics of tinnitus in patients with bilateral subjective tinnitus. METHODS: Total number of 50 participants, 20 men, and 30 women were included in the research. Demographic data, data on hearing impairment obtained by tone audiometry, and data on difficulties caused by tinnitus obtained in two questionnaires - Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI) were used. RESULTS: Age above 30 years is significantly associated with tinnitus with hearing loss. Hearing impairment is also significantly more often associated with an auditory TFI index >6.7, a total THI index >20, and an emotional THI index >3. Hearing loss was noted in 76% of patients. CONCLUSION: Tinnitus represents a significant burden for patients, therefore it is important to assess the impact of tinnitus on daily activities and quality of life.

Prevalence of hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo and sudden deafness among patients with polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

Little is known about a possible association of autoimmune inner ear disease among patients diagnosed with polymyositis (PM)/dermatomyositis (DM). This study aimed to explore differences in the prevalence of inner ear symptoms among patients with and without PM/DM using a nationwide population-based dataset. Data for this study were retrieved from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The study sample included 1622 patients diagnosed with PM/DM and 8109 propensity-score matched comparison patients without PM/DM. We performed multivariate logistic regressions to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for tinnitus, hearing loss, sudden deafness, and vertigo among patients with PM/DM versus comparison patients. Chi-square tests showed statistically significant differences between patients with PM/DM and comparison patients in the prevalence of tinnitus (16.1% vs. 12.7%, p < 0.001), non-conductive hearing loss (9.2% vs. 6.8%, p < 0.001), and vertigo (14.4% vs. 11.1%, p < 0.001). The adjusted ORs for tinnitus, non-conductive hearing loss, and vertigo, respectively, were 1.332 (95% CI = 1.147-1.547), 1.399 (95% CI = 1.154-1.696), and 1.374 (95% CI = 1.173-1.611) for patients with PM/DM when compared to comparison patients. Our study finds that patients with PM/DM have higher prevalence rates of tinnitus, non-conductive hearing loss, and vertigo than comparison patients.

Analysis of characteristics of and risk factors for otological symptoms after COVID-19 infection.

The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics of and risk factors for otological symptoms after contracting COVID-19. We invited 468 participants who had been infected with COVID-19 to participate in a survey. 310 (66.2%) were women and 158 (33.8%) were men. The mean age is 38.73 (12.21) years. The questionnaire included their basic information, symptoms and symptom duration after SARS-CoV-2 infection, number of vaccine doses received, and details regarding otological symptoms. In total, 106/468 (22.6%) participants experienced tinnitus, 66/468 (14.1%) hearing loss, 103/468 (22.0%) aural fullness, and 71/468 (15.2%) dizziness. Women were more prone to experience tinnitus (P = 0.022) and dizziness (P = 0.001) than men. The group with hearing loss were older (P = 0.025), and their initial COVID-19 symptoms lasted longer (P = 0.028) than those of patients without. Patients with aural fullness were more likely to experience fatigue than patients without (P = 0.002). Patients experiencing dizziness were more likely to experience pharyngalgia (P = 0.040) and fatigue (P = 0.005) than those without. The number of vaccine doses was positively associated with the resolution of otological symptoms (P = 0.035). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that sex was an independent risk factor for tinnitus (odds ratio [OR], 1.802; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.099-2.953; P = 0.020), the duration of initial COVID-19 symptoms for hearing loss (OR, 1.055; 95% CI, 1.008-1.105; P = 0.023), and sex for dizziness (OR, 2.870; 95% CI, 1.489-5.535; P = 0.002). Sex, age, COVID-19-related fatigue, and the duration of initial COVID-19 symptoms may affect the occurrence of otological symptoms, and vaccines may aid their resolution.

The Association between Serum Lipid Levels and Tinnitus Prevalence and Severity in Korean Elderly: A Nationwide Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

PURPOSE: We aimed to investigate the association between serum lipid level and tinnitus risk in Korean older adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study used data from the 2016-2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Overall, 6021 subjects aged ≥60 years were included. Hypertriglyceridemia was defined as a serum triglyceride level of ≥200 mg/dL. The high-risk threshold of the total cholesterol (TC)/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio was defined as above 5.0. The presence of tinnitus was assessed via health interviews. Tinnitus severity was classified as "not annoying," "irritating," and "severely annoying and causing sleep problems." Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between serum lipid level and tinnitus risk. RESULTS: The odds ratio (OR) of tinnitus was 1.27-times higher in the group with hypertriglyceridemia than in the group without hypertriglyceridemia after adjusting for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, anemia, current smoking, obesity, noise exposure, stress cognition, and depressive mood or anxiety [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04-1.56, p=0.022]. The OR of tinnitus was 1.21-times higher in the group with a high TC/HDL-C ratio than in the group without a high TC/HDL-C ratio after adjusting for the same variables as above (95% CI 1.02-1.44, p=0.025). CONCLUSION: This study revealed that hypertriglyceridemia and high TC/HDL-C ratio were significantly associated with an increased OR of tinnitus in Korean older adults.

Hearing disorders, genetic predisposition, and risk of new-onset atrial fibrillation: A prospective cohort study in the UK biobank.

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Hearing impairment has been linked to several cardiovascular diseases. However, the association between hearing disorders, genetic predisposition, and new-onset AF remains largely unknown. METHODS: A total of 476,773 participants (mean age 56.5 years) free of AF at baseline (from 2006 to 2010) were included from the UK Biobank study. The presence of hearing disorders including hearing difficulty and tinnitus was self-reported through the touchscreen questionnaire. AF was defined using ICD-10 code: I48 and was followed till February 1st. 2022. The Cox model was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 13.0 years, the AF incidence rate was 2.9 per 1000 person-years. After adjustments for potential confounders, the presence of hearing difficulty (HR, 1.35; 95% CI: 1.32-1.39) and the use of hearing aid (1.45; 1.37-1.53) were significantly associated with risk of new-onset AF. Compared to individuals without tinnitus, the AF risk increased by 17% among those who experienced tinnitus occasionally (1.17; 1.09-1.25), 23% among those who experienced tinnitus frequently (1.23; 1.10-1.39), and 32% among those who experienced tinnitus consistently (1.32; 1.22-1.42). No significant difference was observed across different groups of genetic risk score for AF onset. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides evidence regarding significant associations of hearing difficulty, use of hearing aid, and tinnitus with risk of incident AF. Findings highlight the potential that screening hearing disorders can benefit AF prevention.

A Systematic Review on the Genetic Contribution to Tinnitus.

PURPOSE: To assess the available evidence to support a genetic contribution and define the role of common and rare variants in tinnitus. METHODS: After a systematic search and quality assessment, 31 records including 383,063 patients were selected (14 epidemiological studies and 17 genetic association studies). General information on the sample size, age, sex, tinnitus prevalence, severe tinnitus distribution, and sensorineural hearing loss was retrieved. Studies that did not include data on hearing assessment were excluded. Relative frequencies were used for qualitative variables to compare different studies and to obtain average values. Genetic variants and genes were listed and clustered according to their potential role in tinnitus development. RESULTS: The average prevalence of tinnitus estimated from population-based studies was 26.3% for any tinnitus, and 20% of patients with tinnitus reported it as an annoying symptom. One study has reported population-specific differences in the prevalence of tinnitus, the white ancestry being the population with a higher prevalence. Genome-wide association studies have identified and replicated two common variants in the Chinese population (rs2846071; rs4149577) in the intron of TNFRSF1A, associated with noise-induced tinnitus. Moreover, gene burden analyses in sequencing data from Spanish and Swede patients with severe tinnitus have identified and replicated ANK2, AKAP9, and TSC2 genes. CONCLUSIONS: The genetic contribution to tinnitus is starting to be revealed and it shows population-specific effects in European and Asian populations. The common allelic variants associated with tinnitus that showed replication are associated with noise-induced tinnitus. Although severe tinnitus has been associated with rare variants with large effect, their role on hearing or hyperacusis has not been established.

A systematic review of otologic injuries sustained in civilian terrorist explosions.

PURPOSE: Determine the prevalence of otological symptoms and tympanic membrane perforation, healing rates of tympanic membrane perforation with surgical and conservative management, and hearing function in civilian victims of terrorist explosions. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted with searches on Medline, Embase, EMCare and CINAHL for publications between the 1st January 1945 and 26th May 2023. Studies with quantitative data addressing our aims were included. This review is registered with PROSPERO: CRD42020166768. Among 2611 studies screened, 18 studies comprising prospective and retrospective cohort studies were included. RESULTS: The percentage of eardrums perforated in patients admitted to hospital, under ENT follow up and attending the emergency department is 69.0% (CI 55.5-80.5%), 38.7% (CI 19.0-63.0%, I2 0.715%) and 21.0% (CI 11.9-34.3%, I2 0.718%) respectively. Perforated eardrums heal spontaneously in 62.9% (CI 50.4-73.8%, I2 0.687%) of cases and in 88.8% (CI 75.9-96.3%, I2 0.500%) of cases after surgery. Common symptoms present within one month of bombings are tinnitus 84.7% (CI 70.0-92.9%, I2 0.506%), hearing loss 83.0% (CI 64.5-92.9%, I2 0.505%) and ear fullness 59.7% (CI 13.4-93.4%, I2 0.719). Symptomatic status between one and six months commonly include no symptoms 57.5% (CI 46.0-68.3%), hearing loss 35.4% (CI 21.8-51.8%, I2 0.673%) and tinnitus 15.6% (CI 4.9-40.0%, I2 0.500%). Within one month of bombings, the most common hearing abnormality is sensorineural hearing loss affecting 26.9% (CI 16.9-40.1%, I2 0.689%) of ears 43.5% (CI 33.4-54.2%, I2 0.500) of people. CONCLUSION: Tympanic membrane perforation, subjective hearing loss, tinnitus, ear fullness and sensorineural hearing loss are common sequelae of civilian terrorist explosions.

Contribution of Tinnitus and Hearing Loss to Depression: NHANES Population Study.

OBJECTIVES: Hearing loss affects the emotional well-being of adults and is sometimes associated with clinical depression. Chronic tinnitus is highly comorbid with hearing loss and separately linked with depression. In this article, the authors investigated the combined effects of hearing loss and tinnitus on depression in the presence of other moderating influences such as demographic, lifestyle, and health factors. DESIGN: The authors used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data (2011-2012 and 2015-2016) to determine the effects of hearing loss and tinnitus on depression in a population of US adults (20 to 69 years). The dataset included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for depression screening, hearing testing using pure-tone audiometry, and information related to multiple demographic, lifestyle, and health factors (n = 5845). RESULTS: The statistical analysis showed moderate to high associations between depression and hearing loss, tinnitus, and demographic, lifestyle, and health factors, separately. Results of logistic regression analysis revealed that depression was significantly influenced by hearing loss (adjusted odds ratios [OR] = 3.0), the functional impact of tinnitus (adjusted OR = 2.4), and their interaction, both in the absence or presence of the moderating influences. The effect of bothersome tinnitus on depression was amplified in the presence of hearing loss (adjusted OR = 2.4 in the absence of hearing loss to adjusted OR = 14.9 in the presence of hearing loss). Conversely, the effect of hearing loss on depression decreased when bothersome tinnitus was present (adjusted OR = 3.0 when no tinnitus problem was present to adjusted OR = 0.7 in the presence of bothersome tinnitus). CONCLUSIONS: Together, hearing loss and bothersome tinnitus had a significant effect on self-reported depression symptoms, but their relative effect when comorbid differed. Tinnitus remained more salient than hearing loss and the latter's contribution to depression was reduced in the presence of tinnitus, but the presence of hearing loss significantly increased the effects of tinnitus on depression, even when the effects of the relevant demographic, lifestyle, or health factors were controlled. Treatment strategies that target depression should screen for hearing loss and bothersome tinnitus and provide management options for the conditions.

Increased prevalence of hearing loss, tinnitus and sudden deafness among patients with Sjögren's syndrome.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to provide an updated prevalence of hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo and sudden deafness on patients with Sjögren's syndrome and matched comparison patients. METHODS: Data for this study were retrieved from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database and Taiwan's registered catastrophic illness dataset. This study included 20 266 patients with Sjögren's syndrome as the study group and 60 798 propensity score-matched comparison patients as the comparison group. We used multivariable logistic regressions to estimate the ORs and 95% CI for tinnitus, hearing loss, vertigo and sudden deafness among Sjögren's syndrome patients versus comparison patients. RESULTS: χ2 tests showed there were statistically significant differences between the study group and comparison group in the prevalence of tinnitus (10.1% vs 6.3%, p<0.001), hearing loss (5.6% vs 3.3%, p<0.001), vertigo (4.6% vs 3.2%, p<0.001) and sudden deafness (0.8% vs 0.6%, p<0.001). Multiple logistic regression revealed that patients with Sjögren's syndrome had a greater tendency to have tinnitus (OR=1.690, 95% CI 1.596-1.788), sudden deafness (OR=1.368, 95% CI 1.137-1.647), hearing loss (OR=1.724, 95% CI 1.598-1.859) and vertigo (OR=1.473, 95% CI 1.360-1.597) relative to comparison patients after adjusting for age, income, geographic location, residential urbanisation level, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and rheumatoid arthritis. CONCLUSIONS: We found higher prevalence of hearing loss, vertigo, tinnitus and sudden deafness among patients with Sjögren's syndrome relative to comparison patients. Findings may provide guidance to physicians in counselling patients with Sjögren's syndrome regarding a higher risk of hearing loss, tinnitus, sudden deafness and vertigo.

The Impact of Cigarette Smoking, Water-Pipe Use on Hearing Loss/Hearing Impairment: A Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to determine the association between cigarette smoking, waterpipe smoking, and co-morbidity diseases on hearing loss. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1015 patients [386 males (38%) and 629 females (62%)] who were aged are between 25 and 65 years. The study used clinical, physical examinations and Pure-Tone Audiometry (PTA) to assess hearing. Univariate and multivariate stepwise logistic regression analyses were used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: Out of 1015 patients assessed, 199 were cigarette smokers with hearing loss (21.6%) and 111 waterpipe smokers with hearing loss (12%). There were statistically significant differences between cigarette smokers with hearing loss regarding (p<0.001), gender (p<0.001), BMI (p<0.001), hypertension (p<0.001), tinnitus (p<0.001), vertigo and/or dizziness (p<0.001), and migraine/headaches (p<0.001). Also there were statistically significant differences between waterpipe smokers with hearing loss, none smokers concerning age groups (p<0.001), BMI (p<0.001), using MP3 players (p=0.004), family history of hypertension (p=0.026), ATP III metabolic syndrome (p=0.010), IDF metabolic syndrome (p=0.012), tinnitus (p<0.001), vertigo/dizziness (p<0.001), and migraine/headaches (p=0.025). Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis indicated that tinnitus (p<0.001), dizziness (p<0.001), nausea (p=0.001), headaches and migraine (p<=0.003), fatigue (p=0.004), and vertigo (p=0.022) were considered as risk predictors risk hearing loss related cigarette smokers. Also, analysis revealed that tinnitus (p<0.001), nausea (p=0.001), headaches and migraines (p<0.001), Type 2 diabetes mellitus (p<0.001), and vertigo (p=0.021), were considered as risk predictors for hearing loss related waterpipe smokers. CONCLUSION: The present study suggests cigarette smoking and waterpipe smoking, life-style factors are possible risk factors for hearing loss among smoker participants.

Prevalence of tinnitus in juvenile fibromyalgia patients visiting a pediatric rheumatology clinic.

Juvenile fibromyalgia (JFMS) is a common disorder in the adolescent population with a prevalence of 1-6%. Our study looked at the prevalence of tinnitus in JFMS patients seen at a pediatric rheumatology clinic between 2016 and 2021. The objective of this study was to retrospectively assess prevalence of tinnitus and compare that with prevalence in non- JFMS patients presenting to the clinic. We also assessed prevalence of other sensory and pain symptoms, Widespread pain index >6 and abdominal pain in these two groups. Of the 290 forms evaluated, tinnitus was present in 31.1 % of JFMS subjects, versus only 3.5 % in non-JFMS subjects. There was a significant association between tinnitus and tingling and numbness among subjects with JFM (p = 0.005). On logistic regression analysis, the odds of having JFMS were 5.2 times higher among tinnitus patients compared to non-tinnitus (p = 0.003, 95 % CI 1.77-15.55). Tingling/numbness were also associated with 21.78 times increased odds for diagnosis of JFMS (p = 0.0003, 95 % CI 4.05-117.21). The odds of having JFMS were 22.6 times higher among patients with Widespread Pain Index >6 (p < 0.0001, 95 % CI 7.88-64.71). Tinnitus is a commonly prevalent condition in patients with JFMS. In patients with JFMS, there is a significant association between tinnitus and tingling/numbness. Further studies are needed to explore the underlying pathogenesis of these symptoms.

Reporting of auditory symptoms over time: (in)consistencies, expectations and the nocebo effect.

Objective: Consistent symptom reporting for conditions like tinnitus that do not have an associated sign is critical for evaluating severity and intervention effectiveness, and for interpreting research findings. There is little research examining reporting of tinnitus and hearing difficulty over time. We address this here by comparing reported hearing difficulty and tinnitus at two time-points.Design: A cross-sectional study comparing symptom reporting in March 2019 and August/September 2021 using data from two online surveys of the same cohort. Although each survey was designed to address a different question, both asked about symptoms of tinnitus and hearing difficulties and enabled this exploratory analysis.Study sample: 6881 members of the UK general public aged 18+ years.Results: Inconsistent reporting was evident - many participants who reported experiencing tinnitus and/or hearing difficulties in 2019, said in 2021 that they had never had such symptoms before. Additionally, reports of new tinnitus/hearing difficulties in 2021 were unexpectedly high, equating to 18-month incidence rates of 13.6% and 11.7%, respectively.Conclusions: Psychosocial factors, expectations and context impact symptom reporting. This should be considered when treating patients and interpreting research findings. Using real-time data collection methods could thus provide a better understanding of experiences of tinnitus and hearing.

Hearing Loss Prevalence, Years Lived With Disability, and Hearing Aid Use in the United States From 1990 to 2019: Findings From the Global Burden of Disease Study.

OBJECTIVES: This article describes key data sources and methods used to estimate hearing loss in the United States, in the Global Burden of Disease study. Then, trends in hearing loss are described for 2019, including temporal trends from 1990 to 2019, changing prevalence over age, severity patterns, and utilization of hearing aids. DESIGN: We utilized population-representative surveys from the United States to estimate hearing loss prevalence for the Global Burden of Disease study. A key input data source in modeled estimates are the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), years 1988 to 2010. We ran hierarchical severity-specific models to estimate hearing loss prevalence. We then scaled severity-specific models to sum to total hearing impairment prevalence, adjusted estimates for hearing aid coverage, and split estimates by etiology and tinnitus status. We computed years lived with disability (YLDs), which quantifies the amount of health loss associated with a condition depending on severity and creates a common metric to compare the burden of disparate diseases. This was done by multiplying the prevalence of severity-specific hearing loss by corresponding disability weights, with additional weighting for tinnitus comorbidity. RESULTS: An estimated 72.88 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 68.53 to 77.30) people in the United States had hearing loss in 2019, accounting for 22.2% (20.9 to 23.6) of the total population. Hearing loss was responsible for 2.24 million (1.56 to 3.11) YLDs (3.6% (2.8 to 4.7) of total US YLDs). Age-standardized prevalence was higher in males (17.7% [16.7 to 18.8]) compared with females (11.9%, [11.2 to 12.5]). While most cases of hearing loss were mild (64.3%, 95% UI 61.0 to 67.6), disability was concentrated in cases that were moderate or more severe. The all-age prevalence of hearing loss in the United States was 28.1% (25.7 to 30.8) higher in 2019 than in 1990, despite stable age-standardized prevalence. An estimated 9.7% (8.6 to 11.0) of individuals with mild to profound hearing loss utilized a hearing aid, while 32.5% (31.9 to 33.2) of individuals with hearing loss experienced tinnitus. Occupational noise exposure was responsible for 11.2% (10.2 to 12.4) of hearing loss YLDs. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate large burden of hearing loss in the United States, with an estimated 1 in 5 people experiencing this condition. While many cases of hearing loss in the United States were mild, growing prevalence, low usage of hearing aids, and aging populations indicate the rising impact of this condition in future years and the increasing importance of domestic access to hearing healthcare services. Large-scale audiometric surveys such as NHANES are needed to regularly assess hearing loss burden and access to healthcare, improving our understanding of who is impacted by hearing loss and what groups are most amenable to intervention.

Prevalence of Hyperacusis Diagnosis in Veterans Who Use VA Healthcare.

OBJECTIVES: The primary objective was to estimate the prevalence of hyperacusis diagnosis in treatment-seeking Veterans, paying attention to when it is diagnosed in conjuncture with common comorbid conditions. DESIGN: This retrospective observational study used Veteran electronic health records from January 2015 to July 2021. Hyperacusis and comorbid conditions were identified using International Classification of Disease diagnostic codes. RESULTS: The prevalence of hyperacusis diagnosis was 0.06%. Veterans diagnosed with tinnitus, posttraumatic stress disorder, headache, or traumatic brain injury were between two and seven times more likely to have an International Classification of Disease code for hyperacusis. CONCLUSIONS: The estimated prevalence of hyperacusis diagnosis using electronic health records is grossly below what is reported in the literature. This is likely due to lack of standardized methods to diagnosis hyperacusis and when present with comorbid conditions, uncertainty when it should be coded as a secondary diagnosis. Future clinical and research efforts prioritizing hyperacusis are desperately needed.

Misophonia and Hearing Comorbidities in a Collegiate Population.

OBJECTIVES: Misophonia is a little-understood disorder in which certain sounds cause a strong emotional response in those who experience it. People who are affected by misophonia may find that noises like loud chewing, pen clicking, and/or sniffing trigger intense frustration, anger, or discomfort. The relationship of misophonia with other auditory disorders including loudness hyperacusis, tinnitus, and hearing loss is largely underexplored. This project aimed to investigate the prevalence and hearing-health comorbidities of misophonia in a college-aged population by using an online survey. DESIGN: A total of 12,131 undergraduate and graduate students between the ages of 18 and 25 were given the opportunity to answer an in-depth online survey. These students were sampled in a roughly 50 of 50 sex distribution. The survey was created using Qualtrics and included the following components: electronic consent, demographics questionnaire, Misophonia Questionnaire (MQ), Khalfa's Hyperacusis Questionnaire (HQ), Tinnitus and Hearing Survey, and Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI). To be eligible for compensation, answers for each of the above components were required, with the exception of the TFI, which was only presented to students who indicated that they experienced tinnitus. Respondents were determined to have high or possible likelihood of having misophonia if they gave specific answers to the MQ's Emotion and Behavior Scale or the MQ Severity Scale. RESULTS: After excluding duplicate responses and age-related outliers, 1,084 responses were included in the analysis. Just over 20% (n = 217) of the sample was determined to have a high or probable likelihood of having misophonia. The sample was primarily White, female, and of mid-to-high socioeconomic status. There was a strong positive correlation between MQ total scores and HQ total scores. High likelihood misophonia status showed a significant relationship with self-reported hearing loss and tinnitus. No statistically significant relationship was found between misophonia and age, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. MQ total scores differed significantly when separating respondents by sex, self-reported tinnitus, and loudness hyperacusis. White respondents had significantly higher MQ total scores than Asian/Asian American respondents. CONCLUSIONS: The estimated prevalence of misophonia was about 8% to 20% of the sample, which agrees with most of the currently published research examining misophonia symptoms in collegiate populations. Results of data analysis suggest that misophonia severity may be related to loudness hyperacusis, sex, and possibly tinnitus. Future studies are needed to further examine the characteristics of these relationships, possibly in populations more optimized to reflect the general population or those with hearing-health disorders.

[Sleep disorders in patients with chronic tinnitus]. / Schlafstörungen bei Patienten mit chronischem Tinnitus.

Tinnitus has a lifetime prevalence of 25% in Germany. A common comorbidity in chronic cases are sleep disorders. The aims of this study were to detect sleep disorders and to identify possible associations with tinnitus parameters.Fifty patients with chronic tinnitus were recruited. The patients underwent audiometry, polysomnography, and completed standardised questionnaires on tinnitus and sleep behaviour.Data were available in 30 men and 9 women (age 50.2 ± 11 y, BMI 28.8 ± 4.4 kg/m²). The median duration of tinnitus was 36 (9; 120) months with a severity score of 2.00 (1.00; 3.00). The mean Tinnitus Questionnaire (TF) score was 43.6 ± 17.1, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score was 8.41 ± 4.27, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score was 9.21 ± 4.32, and the Screening Scale for Chronic Stress (SSCS) score was 58.13 ± 9.58.Sleep diagnoses included 18 cases of insomnia, 4 cases of RLS, and 11 cases of OSA. Patients with sleep comorbidities showed higher tinnitus severity, PSQI scores, and body weight compared to those without sleep disorders.Worse sleep quality was associated with higher tinnitus severity (p=0.038) and more disruptive tinnitus (p=0.03). Patients with subjectively highly disruptive tinnitus reported higher chronic stress scores. Tinnitus duration was correlated with OSA-severity (p=0.026).More than two-thirds of tinnitus patients showed sleep disorders as comorbidity. A sleep screening appears useful in cases of increased tinnitus severity. Whether CPAP therapy is helpful in reducing tinnitus symptoms could not be conclusively determined but deserves further attention.

Exposomic Signatures of Tinnitus and/or Hearing Loss.

INTRODUCTION: We evaluated the risk factors associated with tinnitus and/or hearing loss (THL) among active duty (AD) members of the U.S. Army and Marine Aviation Community (AMAC) using an exposomic approach. Specifically, we aimed to determine the factors associated with the reported THL in the Military Health System. METHODS: Longitudinal data were obtained from the Medical Assessment and Readiness System housed at Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, NC, for a retrospective cohort study that included 78,546 AD AMAC members from October 2015 to December 2019. Multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between THL and numerous variables to include rank, service time, deployment, tobacco use, alcohol use, age, gender, race, ethnicity, and body mass index. RESULTS: Our analysis included a total of 220,044 person-years of observations. The THL incidence rate was 6.7 per 100 person-years, with an 8.1% period prevalence. THL was associated with age, gender, body mass index, race, deployment, service time, marital status, and tobacco use (all P < .05). Service time greater than 16 years had the greatest odds ratio of THL (4.46, 95% CI: 3.58-5.55, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Our assessment shows the utility of using an exposomic approach to create member-specific personalized clinical algorithms for health outcomes. We examined individuals with THL diagnoses and identified a combination of risk factors from biomedical, lifestyle, environmental, and stochastic sources. Taken together, the risk factors identified across the four exposomic domains could help understand the etiology of THL. Our exposomic methodology could be the foundation for generating predictive models. Finally, a specific evaluation of occupational risk factors may provide insight into aspects not readily available from civilian literature. In upcoming years, as the Medical Assessment and Readiness System matures, we will expand our analyses to include prospective, untargeted metabolites and biomarker data.

Magnitude of extended high frequency hearing loss associated with auditory related tinnitus distress, when controlling for magnitude of hearing loss at standard frequenciesa).

Impaired thresholds at extended high frequencies (EHF) are tightly linked to the prevalence of tinnitus, but little is known about how EHF status relates to tinnitus characteristics. In the present study, 93 individuals with tinnitus underwent standard (from 0.125 to 8 kHz) and EHF (from 10 to 16 kHz) audiometry and indicated their degree of tinnitus distress by completing the tinnitus functional index and their perceived tinnitus loudness by using a numeric rating scale. Partial correlation analyses indicated that the magnitude of EHF loss was significantly associated with degree of auditory related tinnitus distress (r = 0.343, p < 0.001) when controlling for pure tone average at standard frequencies and compensating for multiple testing. It is concluded that EHF status is related specifically to auditory related tinnitus distress, but not to intrusive-, sense of control-, cognitive-, sleep-, relaxation-, quality of life-, emotional-related tinnitus distress, total tinnitus distress, or perceived tinnitus loudness.

Subjective and Objective Hearing Loss Among US Adult Cancer Survivors.

Importance: Cancer survivors are at a higher risk of developing hearing loss (HL) due to older age, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. However, the prevalence of HL among US cancer survivors remains unknown. Additionally, there is a lack of uniform HL screening guidelines for this enlarging population. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of subjective HL and objective HL by audiometry test among cancer survivors and compare them with the general population as well as to assess the performance of subjective HL questions in detecting true (ie, audiometry-confirmed) HL. Design, Setting, and Participants: In a cross-sectional design, adults between ages 20 and 80 years who had audiometry testing and responded to a hearing questionnaire from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011-2012, 2015-2016, and 2017 to March 2020 prepandemic survey cycles) were selected. Data analysis was conducted from August 13, 2022, to July 26, 2023. Main Outcomes and Measures: The weighted prevalence of subjective HL (troublesome hearing and tinnitus) and objective HL (speech-frequency HL and high-frequency HL) by audiometry were calculated. Analyses with χ2 testing and multiadjusted logistic regression models were used to compare HL between cancer survivors and the general population. To evaluate the performance of subjective HL questions as a tool to screen for objective HL by audiometry, areas under the curve were estimated using age- and gender-adjusted logistic regression. Results: Among the total 9337 participants (weighted n = 90 098 441; 51.2% women), 10.3% were cancer survivors. Compared with the general population, cancer survivors had a higher prevalence of troublesome hearing (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.43; 95% CI, 1.11-1.84), tinnitus (AOR, 1.28; 95% CI, 0.94-1.74), speech-frequency HL (AOR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.11-1.85), and high-frequency HL (AOR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.29-2.34). When using the subjective HL tool and questioning regarding whether the participants were having troublesome hearing and/or tinnitus in screening for HL, the age- and gender-adjusted area under the curve was 0.88 in detecting speech-frequency HL and 0.90 in detecting high-frequency HL. Conclusion and Relevance: The findings of this study suggest that cancer survivors have a significantly higher prevalence of HL than the general population. Two subjective HL questions could potentially accurately identify those who have true HL and provide a simple and efficient screening tool for health care professionals. Cancer survivors and their families should be educated and encouraged to discuss hearing concerns, and health care professionals should facilitate raising awareness and provide early screening and timely referral when HL is identified.

Association of age-related hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic low back pain in middle-aged and older Korean adults.

This was a cross-sectional study conducted to evaluate the association between hearing impairment and low back pain (LBP) using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A total of 5,504 middle-aged and older Korean adults (aged ≥50 years old) who underwent plain radiography of the lumbar spine and pure tone audiometry were included. The presence of LBP was evaluated using a questionnaire, which included a question on whether the patient had experienced LBP that lasted for more than 30 days during the past three months. Patients with age-related hearing loss (ARHL) were defined as those with bilateral hearing impairment who met the following criteria: 1) normal otologic examination results, 2) average pure-tone hearing thresholds of ≤15 dB in both ears, and 3) no occupational noise exposure. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that ARHL was not associated with LBP (odds ratio, 1.33; 95% CI, 0.94-1.89) after adjusting for potential confounders in the final model. However, when participants without both ARHL and tinnitus were defined as the reference group, the results showed that the participants with both ARHL and tinnitus were more likely to have LBP (OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.11-3.11). These results indicate that ARHL with tinnitus is significantly associated with LBP. We recommend that elderly patients with ARHL and tinnitus increase their daily physical activities and engage in more muscle-strengthening exercises to prevent LBP.