Childhood hearing and its relationship with tinnitus at thirty-two years of age

Tinnitus is associated with hearing loss in adulthood, often resulting from noise or age, but it is not known whether children's hearing and/or middle ear health predispose them to tinnitus in adulthood.

The participants were members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, born in Dunedin, New Zealand, between April 1972 and March 1973. The base sample consisted of 1,037 children. Otitis media was assessed at 5, 7, and 9 years of age; audiometry and tympanometry findings were recorded at 11 years of age, and a detailed description of the tympanic membrane was made at 15 years of age. At 32 years of age, 970 of the 1,015 living study members (96%) answered questions about tinnitus.

Children who had otitis media and a raised audiometric threshold went on to experience more tinnitus in adulthood than did those without middle ear disease or those who had otitis media without a raised threshold. In those who had recovered from otitis media, audiometric threshold elevation at lower and higher frequencies was associated with experiencing tinnitus in adulthood. Neither childhood otitis media alone nor elevated thresholds alone predicted adult tinnitus.

Childhood otitis media with an associated hearing loss in the low and high frequencies was associated with a greater probability of experiencing tinnitus in adulthood.