Tinnitus in children and associated risk factors

The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of tinnitus and explore the risk factors in school-aged children age 5-12 years. For that we asked "Do you hear a noise inside your ears/head?" and required children to be able to describe the sounds perceived and their location. We refer to this as tinnitus sensation. Additionally, we asked "Does it bother or annoy you?" and "In what situations does it bother or annoy you?" to determine if this experience was bothersome. We refer to this as tinnitus annoyance. Associations to demographic and audiological factors were studied. Approximately 37% of children reported tinnitus sensation and 17% reported tinnitus annoyance. Related factors were age, hearing loss, and history of noise exposure, motion sickness and hyperacusis. Estimates of the prevalence of tinnitus clearly depend on how tinnitus is defined. In the present study, participants were asked "Do you hear a noise inside your ears/head?" but we did not make distinctions regarding the duration or character of their tinnitus. Our estimates of tinnitus annoyance were also broad, and did not attempt to quantify the degree of annoyance.