Prevalence, associated factors, and comorbidities of tinnitus in adolescents

PLoS One. 2020 Jul 31;15(7):e0236723. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236723. eCollection 2020.

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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Audiometry, Pure-Tone
  • Auditory Threshold
  • Comorbidity
  • Female
  • Hearing
  • Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Music
  • Noise / adverse effects
  • Prevalence
  • Republic of Korea / epidemiology
  • Sound Localization
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Tinnitus* / diagnosis
  • Tinnitus* / epidemiology
  • Tinnitus* / etiology

Grants and funding

Initials of the authors who received each award: S.H.O Financial Disclosure: 1. Korean society of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery Grant number: 2016KORL0645 URL: http://www.korl.or.kr/ Role: The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. 2. Korean otology society Grant number: N/A URL: http://www.otologicalsociety.or.kr/ Role: The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.