Risk factors of pediatric tinnitus: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Medications for pediatric tinnitus are not widely used due to a lack of evidence-based information. The modification of risk factors is essential in pediatric tinnitus; however, there is a lack of systematic reviews despite several reports on risk factors. This study performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of available literature to evaluate risk factors of pediatric tinnitus.

Studies reporting the risk factors of pediatric tinnitus were systematically reviewed by searching the MEDLINE, PubMed, and Embase databases for studies published from database inception to 2016. The selected articles included clinical or epidemiological studies conducted with at least 50 subjects and at least one risk factor, including age, gender, hearing loss, noise exposure, or smoking.

Eleven studies involving a total of 28,358 individuals were identified. Increased age was not a significant risk factor with a standardized median difference of 0.16 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.01 to 0.33). However, there was a significant correlation between increased age and tinnitus in the adolescent population. The odds ratio (OR) was 1.37 for female gender (95% CI: 1.17 to 1.60), 2.39 for hearing loss (95% CI: 1.48 to 3.87), and 11.35 for noise exposure (95% CI: 1.87 to 68.77). Two studies in adolescents showed statistical significance for smoking as a risk factor in developing tinnitus (OR: 6.05, 95% CI: 1.81 to 20.21).

Older-aged adolescents, as well as those who are females and those with hearing loss may have a higher risk of tinnitus. Noise exposure in the general pediatric population and smoking in adolescents may represent especially important risk factors in pediatric tinnitus. Laryngoscope, 128:1462-1468, 2018.