Tinnitus in adolescents: the start of the vulnerability of the auditory pathways.

Introduction: Although tinnitus is an increasingly common symptom, few studies have assessed its prevalence or incidence among adolescents.

Purpose: To assess whether the presence of tinnitus in adolescents is associated with minimal hearing damage, evaluated through high-frequency audiometry (HFA), otoacoustic emission (OAE), and loudness discomfort level (LDL).

Methods: The sample comprised 168 adolescents of a private school (61.