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 ( A randomised sample of 10,460 respondents, aged 6–79, completed questionnaires between 2012 and 2015. Results: 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 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.

本研究旨在针对全国代表性加拿大人群样本，探究个体、累积闲暇噪声暴露（cumulative leisure noise exposure, CLNE）与可接受年暴露量（acceptable yearly exposure, AYE）同耳鸣之间的关联。研究采用入户访谈问卷，从年龄、性别、家庭收入维度及耳鸣情况（包括既往患病史、近一年发作情况、发作频率、是否带来困扰）对闲暇噪声暴露水平进行评估。将暴露人群分为高暴露（≥85 dBA，LEX）与低暴露组，本研究共纳入10460名年龄介于6至79岁的随机抽样受访者，于2012年至2015年间完成问卷调研。结果显示：耳鸣患病率在青年群体与青少年群体中最高，两类群体患病率均达50%。频繁发作且带来困扰的耳鸣分别影响了1/3与18.1%的加拿大民众。男性耳鸣患病率更高，而女性受困扰性耳鸣的占比更高。在多数年龄组中，耳鸣的比值比（odds ratios, ORs）升高与以下因素相关：（1）高、低水平累积闲暇噪声暴露，以及可接受年暴露量≥1；（2）来自个体噪声源的高暴露：大音量播放家庭/车载音响、使用电动工具、汽油机设备、高速公路上驾驶摩托车或雪地摩托。大音量使用个人音频设备与6至11岁群体的耳鸣比值比翻倍相关；而12至19岁群体中，若大音量使用音频设备时长≥5年，则耳鸣比值比显著升高。面向社区或学校开展科普宣教活动，有助于提升大众对高音量闲暇噪声暴露与耳鸣危害的认知。