Prevalence of Tinnitus in an Aging Population and Its Relation to Age and Hearing Loss.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg
; 164(4): 859-868, 2021 04.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32988263
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Tinnitus is a common hearing-related disorder, which may have a large impact on daily life. With aging populations worldwide, it is important to gain insight in the occurrence of tinnitus at older ages and to understand its relationship with age-related hearing loss. We investigated the prevalence of tinnitus among a general aging population, across age strata and hearing status. STUDYDESIGN:
Cross-sectional.SETTING:
The population-based Rotterdam Study.METHODS:
A total of 6098 participants underwent tinnitus assessment, and 4805 had additional hearing assessment. We determined tinnitus prevalence per 5-year age groups. Hearing impairment was defined as ≥25-dB HL worse ear pure tone average (0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz). We investigated with multivariable logistic regression the association between hearing impairment and tinnitus. Tinnitus handicap was assessed in 663 participants with daily tinnitus via the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory-screening version (THI-s).RESULTS:
Tinnitus was prevalent in 21.4% (n = 1304). Prevalent tinnitus was evenly distributed over 5-year age groups. Participants with hearing impairment were more likely to have tinnitus (odds ratio, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.92-2.69) as compared with those without hearing impairment. The median THI-s score was 4 (interquartile range, 0-10), indicating a slight handicap, and 14.6% of the participants reported a moderate or severe handicap (THI-s ≥16).CONCLUSIONS:
In a general elderly population, 1 in 5 persons has tinnitus. Of those with tinnitus, for 1 per 10 persons, the presence of tinnitus interfered with daily life. Participants with hearing impairment were twice as likely to have tinnitus. Despite the age-dependent occurrence of hearing impairment, no such age dependency was found for tinnitus.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Tinnitus
/
Hearing Loss
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg
Journal subject:
OTORRINOLARINGOLOGIA
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Netherlands
Publication country:
ENGLAND
/
ESCOCIA
/
GB
/
GREAT BRITAIN
/
INGLATERRA
/
REINO UNIDO
/
SCOTLAND
/
UK
/
UNITED KINGDOM