Abstract
Tinnitus has been linked to noise exposure, a common form of which is listening to music as a leisure activity. The relationship between tinnitus and type and duration of music exposure is not well understood. We conducted an internet-based population study that asked participants questions about lifetime music exposure and hearing, and included a hearing test involving speech intelligibility in noise, the High Frequency Digit Triplets Test. 4950 people aged 17–75 years completed all questions and the hearing test. Results were analyzed using multinomial regression models. High exposure to leisure music, hearing difficulty, increasing age and workplace noise exposure were independently associated with increased tinnitus. Three forms of music exposure (pubs/clubs, concerts, personal music players) did not differ in their relationship to tinnitus. More males than females reported tinnitus. The objective measure of speech reception threshold had only a minimal relationship with tinnitus. Self-reported hearing difficulty was more strongly associated with tinnitus, but 76% of people reporting usual or constant tinnitus also reported little or no hearing difficulty. Overall, around 40% of participants of all ages reported never experiencing tinnitus, while 29% reported sometimes, usually or constantly experiencing tinnitus that lasted more than 5 min. Together, the results suggest that tinnitus is much more common than hearing loss, but that there is little association between the two, especially among the younger adults disproportionately sampled in this study.
Highlights
Noise exposure has been linked to hearing loss and tinnitus, most recently in the high rate of both hearing disorders among military personnel exposed to gunfire and explosions (Elgoyhen et al, 2015; Helfer, 2011)
In the study reported here we examined the frequency of tinnitus as a function of age and estimated lifetime music exposure as part of a large-scale, internet-based public science experiment on hearing
The online High Frequency Digit Triplets Test (Hf-DTT) is robust to the use of different levels and speakers primarily because the test itself does not depend on calibrated equipment and speech reception threshold (SRT) remains relatively constant over a wide dynamic range, including the range that most people find comfortable (Vlaming et al, 2014)
Summary
Noise exposure has been linked to hearing loss and tinnitus, most recently in the high rate of both hearing disorders among military personnel exposed to gunfire and explosions (Elgoyhen et al, 2015; Helfer, 2011). In the study reported here we examined the frequency of tinnitus as a function of age and estimated lifetime music exposure as part of a large-scale, internet-based public science experiment on hearing. In their study (McCormack et al, 2014b), classified SRTs as ‘normal’, ‘insufficent’ or ‘poor’ (see (Dawes et al, 2014) and found that, relative to those with normal hearing, participants with insufficient or poor hearing had significantly (p < 0.001) more ‘transient’, ‘persistent’ and ‘bothersome’ tinnitus. Participants were invited to visit a purpose-designed website where they answered questions about their music exposure and hearing, including a question about the frequency of tinnitus. They completed a hearing test involving speech intelligibility in noise. The aims of this research were to determine the relation between tinnitus frequency (rate of occurrence) and lifetime leisure music exposure across age and other variables that have been related to tinnitus, and to make this evidence visible to the public to inform impact of leisure music on tinnitus
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