Clinical observations and risk factors for tinnitus in a Sicilianudcohort

摘要

The aims of this study were to determine theuddistribution of risk factors associated with tinnitus analysingudtheir role in the development of tinnitus and the effectsudof their interaction; to evidence the importance of a suitableudand adequate clinical and audiologic assessment toudavoid those modifiable risk factors responsible for cochlearuddysfunction and tinnitus onset. 46 subjects with tinnitusudand 74 controls were studied according to: age, sex, BodyudMass Index (BMI), neck circumference, tobacco smoking,udfeeling fatigue or headache, self reporting snoring, hypertension,uddiabetes, coronary heart disease, and/or hyperlipidemia,udand laboratory finding as lipid profile and levels ofudreactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROM). Audiologicaludassessment was performed by multi-frequency audiometryud(PTA0.5–16 kHz) and transient-evoked otoacoustic emissionsud(TEOAE diagnostic). Univariate analysis was performed toudexamine the association between determinants andudoccurrence of tinnitus; Mantel–Haenszel test (G.or) wasudused to investigate the joint effect of determinants on tinnitus.udTinnitus was more frequent among males with ageud[50 years; BMI[30 kg/m2, neck circumference[40 cm,udheadache, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia resultedudsignificant risk factors for tinnitus (P0.0001). Tinnitusudgroup had more comorbidity (P0.0001) and worseudaudiometric thresholds (60.87 Vs 21.62 % hearing loss;udP0.0001) with respect to control group. The interactionudbetween hypertension–BMI C 30 kg/m2 (G.or = 8.45) andudsmoking–hypercholesterolemia (G.or = 5.08) increasesudthe risk of tinnitus (P0.0001). Our results underline thatudseveral factors either individually or jointly contribute toudtinnitus onset; a comprehensive knowledge about tinnitusudrisk factors and associated clinical conditions could contributeudto minimizing this disorder.