Tinnitus among Serbian secondary school students in relation to their behavior and habits

Although tinnitus is a very common symptom, risk factors related to behavior and habits have not been sufficiently investigated. As no investigation on this problem has been performed in Serbia, the aim of our study was to establish the prevalence of tinnitus among Serbian adolescents and to investigate the relationship between their behavior and habits and tinnitus. This investigation was designed as a cross-sectional interview study among secondary school students in Belgrade, Serbia (277 boys and 494 girls). An anonymous questionnaire was self-administered at classes. The investigated variables were: The presence of tinnitus, sources of noise, night outs at noisy places, use of personal music players, smoking, second hand smoke (SHS), substance abuse, coffee and alcohol consumption. Spearman's rank-order correlations and multiple logistic regressions were performed with variables related to behavior and habits as independent ones and tinnitus as a dichotomized dependent variable. Tinnitus was reported by 99 students (12.8%), more frequently among girls compared with boys (P = 0.009). Multivariate logistic regression analysis in boys revealed a significant independent effect of a regular drug abuse on the onset of tinnitus. The chances of tinnitus were 13 times higher among drug addicts compared with non-drug users (odds ratio [OR] and 95% confidence interval [CI] for tinnitus = 13.072; 1.335-127.946). In girls, the significant independent effect on tinnitus was found for daily duration of exposure to SHS (OR and 95% CI for tinnitus = 1.328; 1.073-1.644 /per 2 hours of exposure/).