Abstract
Tinnitus is related to serious comorbidities such as suicidal ideation and attempts. Body mass index (BMI) is associated with auditory symptoms including hearing loss. The aim of this nationwide, population-based, cross-sectional study was to evaluate the relationship between mental health, body mass index and tinnitus in a Korean premenopausal female population. This study analyzed data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys in 2010–2012. Data were collected from 4628 19 years or older, premenopausal women. After adjustments, underweight premenopausal women exhibited a higher odds ratio for tinnitus (odd ratio = 1.54; 95% confidence interval = 1.14–2.08) compared with women of normal weight. Moderate and severe tinnitus was highly prevalent in underweight as well as extremely obese women. The prevalence of perceived stress, melancholy, and suicide ideation was significantly higher in women with tinnitus. The prevalence of perceived stress and suicide ideation was significantly higher in underweight women with tinnitus, but that of melancholy was significantly lower. This study demonstrated that underweight premenopausal Korean women had a higher risk of tinnitus, which has grown in importance as a public health issue. Women with tinnitus experience perceived stress and suicide ideation more frequently, but melancholy less frequently than women without.
Highlights
Tinnitus is one of common problems that can have considerable negative effects on the quality of life[1,2]
Body mass index (BMI) is already known to be associated with hearing loss[8,11,12,13], our findings indicated that underweight premenopausal women had an about 1.5-fold increased risk for tinnitus
This association was statistically significant even after adjusting for age, smoking, drinking, exercise, perceived stress, melancholy, and duration of sleep. This is the first study to demonstrate the relationship between tinnitus and BMI
Summary
Tinnitus is one of common problems that can have considerable negative effects on the quality of life[1,2]. Because self-attitude about one’s body shape is associated with cultural canons rather than objective parameters, self-satisfaction with body shape or image is modulated subjectively and determined by personality. Negative self-attitude about body weight is common, especially in young women. Many women tend to consider their body weight as a determinant of their body shape or image and use various slimming diets, despite a lack of objective reasons. Since negative self-attitude about body weight is a principal determinant of female body image, we hypothesized that underweight or obesity might be a major factor associated with prevalence or severity of tinnitus in women. This study investigated the relationship between tinnitus and BMI in premenopausal women using nationwide, population-based, cross-sectional data from South Korea. Secondary aim of this study was to evaluate the association between mental health status and BMI in in premenopausal women with tinnitus
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