Tinnitus prevalence and associations with leisure noise exposure among Canadians, aged 6 to 79 years

To examine the association between individual, cumulative leisure noise exposure (CLNE), acceptable yearly exposure (AYE) and tinnitus among a nationally representative sample of Canadians. In-person household questionnaires were used to evaluate leisure noise exposure across age, sex, household income and tinnitus: ever experienced, previous year, frequent, bothersome. High (≥85 dBA, LEX), low (&lt;85 dBA, LEX) CLNE and AYEs were defined according to occupational limits. A randomised sample of 10,460 respondents, aged 6–79, completed questionnaires between 2012 and 2015. <i>Results:</i> Tinnitus prevalence was highest among young adults and teenagers (50% for both). Frequent and bothersome tinnitus afflicted one-third and 18.1% of Canadians, respectively. Men had higher tinnitus prevalence while women had increased bothersome tinnitus. For most ages, elevated tinnitus odds ratios (ORs) were associated with: (1) high, low CLNE and AYEs ≥1 and, (2) high exposure from individual sources: loud home/car stereo listening, power tools, gasoline engines, highway motorcycle/snowmobile driving. Loud personal listening device usage was associated with tinnitus ORs doubling (ages 6–11) and ≥5 or &lt;5 years of loud usage, with increased tinnitus ORs (ages 12–19). Community and/or school-based educational outreach would be beneficial to increase awareness of loud leisure noise exposure and tinnitus.

本研究旨在探讨加拿大全国代表性样本中个体、累积休闲噪声暴露（CLNE）、可接受年暴露量（AYE）与耳鸣之间的关联。研究采用入户问卷调查的方式，评估不同年龄、性别、家庭收入群体的休闲噪声暴露情况，以及耳鸣的发生状况（包括曾发生、过去一年发生、频繁发生、困扰性耳鸣）。根据职业暴露限值，将CLNE分为高暴露（≥85 dBA，LEX）和低暴露（<85 dBA，LEX），并定义AYE的相应水平。2012年至2015年间，10460名年龄在6-79岁的随机抽样受访者完成了问卷。<i>结果：</i> 耳鸣患病率在青年人和青少年群体中最高（两者均为50%）。频繁耳鸣和困扰性耳鸣分别影响了三分之一和18.1%的加拿大人。男性耳鸣患病率更高，而女性的困扰性耳鸣发生率更高。对于大多数年龄段，耳鸣比值比（OR）升高与以下因素相关：（1）高/低CLNE及AYE≥1；（2）来自个体来源的高暴露，包括家庭/汽车音响音量过大、电动工具使用、汽油发动机操作、高速公路摩托车/雪地摩托驾驶。大声使用个人听力设备与耳鸣OR翻倍相关（6-11岁组）；对于12-19岁组，无论大声使用时长≥5年还是<5年，均与耳鸣OR升高相关。开展社区和/或学校层面的教育宣传活动，有助于提高公众对高音量休闲噪声暴露及耳鸣的认知。