Audiometric thresholds and prevalence of tinnitus among male veterans in the United States: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2006

Abstract

Abstract-Hearing loss and tinnitus are the two most prevalent service-connected disabilities among U.S. veterans. The number of veterans receiving compensation and services from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for these conditions continues to increase annually. However, the majority of veterans in the United States do not use VA medical centers or clinics for healthcare and do not receive VA compensation payments. Therefore, the prevalence of hearing loss and tinnitus among U.S. veterans is unknown. This study used National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data to estimate the prevalence of these auditory conditions among male veterans. Between 1999 and 2006, pure tone audiometric data collected from 845 male veterans were compared with pure tone thresholds collected from 2,086 male nonveterans. We used questionnaire data collected between 1999 and 2004 to calculate and compare the prevalence of tinnitus for 2,174 veterans and 4,995 nonveterans. In general, pure tone thresholds did not differ significantly between veterans and nonveterans for most frequencies tested (500-8,000 Hz). The overall prevalence of tinnitus was greater for veterans than that for nonveterans (p < 0.001), with statistically significant differences in the 50 to 59 and 60 to 69 age groups.

Auditory Processing Abilities of Parkinson’s Disease Patients

“…The most likely reason for this disparity in findings is the relatively small number of subjects in each of these studies. In order to draw definitive conclusions regarding differences in audiometric results between PD patients and age-matched control subjects, it would be necessary to collect and analyze data from much larger pools of participants (as, e.g., in [3] or [4]). However, worse thresholds for 1500 and 2000 Hz tones exhibited by PD patients in the current study reflect a pattern of hearing loss which is more likely to be noticed by patients compared to similar degrees of hearing loss at 4000 or 8000 Hz.…”

“…The average age for PD onset is approximately 60 years, and the prevalence of PD increases with age [2]. Since the majority of people who are 60 years old or older have significant hearing loss (HL) and the prevalence of HL increases with age [3, 4], a majority of PD patients have significant HL that will worsen over time.…”

Evaluating psychoacoustic measures for establishing presence of tinnitus

“…An estimated 3-4 million U.S. military Veterans have tinnitus, of whom up to 1 million require clinical intervention [2]. It was recently reported that Veterans have twice the prevalence of tinnitus as non-Veterans [3]. The greater prevalence of tinnitus for Veterans compared with non-Veterans has also been reported by Adams et al [4].…”

Tonic tensor tympani syndrome in tinnitus and hyperacusis patients: A multi-clinic prevalence study

“…[20] ASD development from exposure to threatening, unexpected, loud sounds in close proximity, such as explosions and weapon fire, can be expected to occur in active service, either with or without noise damage causing hearing loss. Apart from persistent TTTS symptoms, severe ASD almost always includes hyperacusis (as shown in this study), often includes tinnitus, and can lead to PTSD.…”