Sex-Specific Prevalence, Demographic Characteristics, and Risk Factors of Tinnitus in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of any and chronic tinnitus among female and male individuals from varied Hispanic/Latino backgrounds and to estimate associations between risk factors for chronic tinnitus. Method: Our analysis used cross-sectional baseline data collected from 2008 to 2011 from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL). Prevalence estimates and multivariable logistic regression were conducted using survey methodology. Participants included 15,768 adults (8,229 women and 7,539 men) aged 18–76 years. The primary outcome of interest was chronic tinnitus, defined as self-reported tinnitus lasting ≥ 5 min at a time and at least once per week. We hypothesized that after adjusting for covariates, the risk factors of depressed and anxious symptoms, smoking history, hypertension, and noise exposure history would be associated with higher odds of chronic tinnitus. Results: Unstratified prevalence for any tinnitus was 32.9%, and for chronic tinnitus, it was 12.1%. Sex-stratified results demonstrated that 2,995 female individuals (36.4%) and 2,187 male individuals (29.0%) reported any tinnitus, and of these, 1,043 female individuals (12.7%) and 870 male individuals (11.5%) reported chronic tinnitus. In the fully adjusted model, depressed and anxious symptoms as well as recreational noise exposure were associated with higher odds of chronic tinnitus in female individuals (odds ratios [ ORs ] = 1.06, confidence interval [CI; 1.04, 1.07]; 1.02, CI [1.01, 1.04]; and 1.40, CI [1.20, 1.62]) and in male individuals ( OR s = 1.06, CI [1.03, 1.08]; 1.05, CI [1.02, 1.08]; and 1.30, CI [1.05, 1.65]). Current smoking was a risk factor for chronic tinnitus in male individuals ( OR = 1.53, CI [1.16, 2.02]). Conclusions: Prevalence of any and chronic tinnitus in the HCHS/SOL baseline cohort is higher than that reported in previous studies, particularly among female individuals. Understanding risk factors associated with tinnitus is important for the development of culturally and linguistically appropriate public health programs that consider sex differences and promote lifestyle modifications known to lower the odds of experiencing tinnitus.

One-Channel Simple Frontal Electroencephalography Detection of Tinnitus and Related Distress

Background: No simple objective test is available so far for diagnosing tinnitus. Thus, diagnosis is typically based on the patients’ medical history. Herein, we propose the usefulness of a simple one-channel electroencephalography (EEG) with a newly developed analysis technique to objectively detect tinnitus.Methods: We developed a portable EEG device to measure frontal Fp1 activities. The recorded data of 31 patients with chronic tinnitus and 29 healthy controls were analyzed with a support vector machine.Results: We identified tinnitus by analyzing the frequency obtained by frontal Fp EEG. We discovered that 9- and 13-Hz changes were critical for identifying tinnitus.Conclusions: One-channel Fp1 measurement reliably detected tinnitus (sensitivity, 72%; specificity, 96%). EEG measurement may also be related with tinnitus-related distress in patients. Further EEG studies are warranted to determine more accurately the pathophysiology of tinnitus.

Cerebral Blood Flow Difference Between Acute and Chronic Tinnitus Perception: A Perfusion Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Purpose: The central nervous mechanism of acute tinnitus is different from that of chronic tinnitus, which may be related to the difference of cerebral blood flow (CBF) perfusion in certain regions. To verify this conjecture, we used arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in this study to compare the CBF alterations of patients with acute and chronic tinnitus.Methods: The current study included patients with chronic tinnitus (n = 35), acute tinnitus (n = 30), and healthy controls (n = 40) who were age-, sex-, and education-matched. All participants underwent MRI scanning and then ASL images were obtained to measure CBF of the entire brain and analyze the differences between groups as well as the correlations with tinnitus characteristics.Results: The chronic tinnitus group showed increased z-CBF in the right superior temporal gyrus (STG) and superior frontal gyrus (SFG) when compared with the acute tinnitus patients. Further connectivity analysis found enhanced CBF connectivity between the right STG and fusiform gyrus (FG), the right SFG and left middle occipital gyrus (MOG), as well as the right parahippocampal gyrus (PHG). Moreover, in the chronic tinnitus group, the tinnitus handicap questionnaire (THQ) score was positively correlated with the normalized z-CBF of right STG (r = 0.440, p = 0.013).Conclusion: Our results confirmed that the CBF changes in some brain regions were different between acute and chronic tinnitus patients, which was correlated with certain tinnitus characteristics. This is of great value to further research on chronicity of tinnitus, and ASL has a promising application in the measurement of CBF.

Chronic tinnitus and the positive effects of sound enrichment from a smartphone app of: case–control study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Tinnitus is a phantom auditory sensation in the absence of any external stimuli. It is accompanied by a broad range of negative emotional symptoms and significantly lower quality of life. So far, there is no cure for tinnitus although various treatment options have been tried. One of them is mobile technology employing dedicated applications based on sound therapy. The applications can be managed by the patient and tailored according to their needs. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to assess the effect on the severity of tinnitus of using a mobile application that generates background sounds. METHODS The study involved 68 adults who experienced chronic tinnitus. Participants were divided into a study group and a control group. For 6 months those in the study group used a free mobile application that enriched the sound environment with a background sound. Participants were instructed to use the application for at least 30 min a day and they could listen to any sort of sound according to their preference. The participants in the control group did not use the application. Subjective changes in the daily functioning of both groups were evaluated using the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) questionnaire, a visual analog scale, and a user survey. RESULTS After 3 months of using the application the THI global score significantly decreased in the study group, and decreased again at 6 months. The highest improvement was observed in the emotional and catastrophic reactions subscales. Based on the THI questionnaire, a clinically significant change was reported by 39% (17 of 44). Almost 90% of the study participants chose environmental sounds to listen to, the most popular being rain and ocean waves. In the control group, tinnitus severity did not change over 3 or 6 months. CONCLUSIONS Although the participants still experienced limitations caused by tinnitus, the advantage of the app was that it led to lower negative emotions and thus reduced overall tinnitus severity. It is worth considering whether a mobile app might be incorporated into the management of tinnitus in a professional setting. CLINICALTRIAL N/A