Tinnitus and hearing in 7-year-old children.

Background: Tinnitus occurs with or without prior noise exposure (noise-induced tinnitus (NIT) and spontaneous tinnitus (ST)), and is considered a symptom related to permanent hearing impairment (HI) or temporary hearing threshold shift (TTS).

Objective: To carry out a cross-sectional interview study on TTS, ST and NIT during a standard audiometric screening of 756 7-year-old children in Gothenburg.

Results: 41% out of 756 children reported either NIT or ST on several occasions, 17% reported recurrent TTS and 7% failed the audiometry screening.

Tinnitus in the general population with a focus on noise and stress: a public health study.

Objectives: To evaluate the influence of noise and stress on the probability of tinnitus in the general population.

Design: Questionnaire data were obtained from 12,166 subjects.

Results: Each year of age increased the odds ratio of tinnitus by about 3%.

Fast-track care for patients with suspected hip fracture.

Patients over 65 years of age with suspected hip fracture following low-energy trauma often wait a long time for examinations, X-rays, tests and surgery. There may be a connection between long waiting times and complications, including severe pain, mental confusion, infection, pressure sores, and longer hospital stays. This study examines whether implementing prehospital preoperative procedures might lead to reduced waiting times, less postoperative pain, fewer complications and shorter length of care for this patient group.

Relationship between tinnitus severity and psychiatric disorders.

A close association between tinnitus and psychiatric disorders has been demonstrated, but little is known about how the severity of tinnitus is related to these disorders. The authors investigated the strength of the association between tinnitus and both the prevalence and severity of anxiety and depressive disorders. One study group consisted of 80 consecutive patients and another of 144 patients who were deemed by screening to be at high risk for severe and disabling tinnitus.

The suffering of tinnitus in childhood and adolescence.

Objectives: Investigate the profile of young patients complaining of tinnitus and study the prevalence and the severity of tinnitus in schoolchildren.

Design: Ninety-five consecutive patients (55 boys), 8-20 years old, seeking help for tinnitus at our clinic were studied using audiometry, structural interviews, Tinnitus Severity Questionnaire (TSQ) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD), together with Visual Analog Scales (VAS) on tinnitus loudness and annoyance.

Results: The onset of tinnitus was twice as often sudden than gradual.

The effects of sertraline on severe tinnitus suffering--a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Objective: The relationship between tinnitus and anxiety and depressive disorders has been frequently alluded to, but there are few studies on antidepressants in the treatment of tinnitus, and the efficacy of sertraline on severe refractory tinnitus has not been reported.

Method: Consecutive tinnitus patients (n = 76) considered to be at high risk for severe and disabling tinnitus according to a recently developed screening procedure were randomly assigned to 16 weeks of double-blind treatment with placebo (n = 38) or sertraline (n = 38) at a fixed dose (25 mg/d on the first week and 50 mg/d on the following 15 weeks). Between-group comparisons of Tinnitus Severity Questionnaire scores over 16 weeks were made as the primary outcome measure.

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) as a screening instrument in tinnitus evaluation.

The identification of anxiety and depressive disorders in tinnitus patients is important from a therapeutic point of view. We have addressed this question by investigating the screening performance of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) in a consecutive series of tinnitus patients (n = 82) without severe socially disabling hearing loss referred to an audiological clinic. The structured clinical interview for DSM-III criteria was used as the gold standard.

[Tinnitus treatment is guided by etiology. Noise, stress or anxiety/depression plausible causes].

Tinnitus may be a clinical symptom of disturbances in the auditory system but also of stress. Noise exposure may be a trigger. Severe tinnitus may have an impact on the working capacity, and in the management of tinnitus.

A clinical evaluation of the hearing disability and handicap scale in men with noise induced hearing loss.

During the last 30 years several hearing disability and handicap questionnaires have been designed and used for clinical purposes. The present study includes a review of the most frequently used scales. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Hearing Disability and Handicap Scale (HDHS), which is a shortened and modified version of the Hearing Measurement Scale.

The impact of perceived tinnitus severity on health-related quality of life with aspects of gender.

The Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) has been used to investigate the health profiles in different medical conditions. It has, however, never been applied to tinnitus sufferers. The present study aimed at investigating relationships between the perceived severity of tinnitus, audiometric data, age, gender and non-disease specific health-related quality of life measured with the NHP divided into two sections; NHP I (topics related to health status) and NHP II (health induced problems in daily life).

Health profiles for patients with Ménière's disease.

The Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) has been used to investigate the health profiles for many medical conditions, such as herpes zoster infection, migraine, cancer and epilepsy. However, so far, it has not been used to investigate the health profile for patients suffering from Ménière's disease, but only for patients with dizziness, severe hearing loss and tinnitus. Each of these three symptoms have shown to have a significant impact on the quality of life.

Tinnitus in 7-year-old children.

Unlabelled: The prevalence of tinnitus in children with normal hearing has been reported to be between 6% and 36% and much higher in children with hearing loss. The aim of the present study was to perform an epidemiological, cross-sectional study, on the prevalence of tinnitus in 7-year-old school children ( n=964) and to statistically analyse the relation of tinnitus to gender, noise exposure, intratympanic pressure and hearing parameters. Tinnitus was reported by 12% of the children and in contrast to other reports, hearing parameters, did not correlate to the prevalence of tinnitus and no gender differences were found.

Sound stimulation via bone conduction for tinnitus relief: a pilot study.

For some patients suffering from tinnitus, an external sound stimulator can offer some mitigation. Based on our positive experience with the bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA), it seems possible to transmit a masking or habituating sound via bone conduction. A potential advantage of bone-conducted sound is that it is transmitted to the cochlea without affecting the normal hearing via the external and middle ear.