Epidemiology

Most people experience trivial tinnitus in a silent soundproof room.

The NHS Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Guidance (2019) reports that:

• 10% of the population will have tinnitus at some point
• and it will be moderately annoying in 2.8% of the population; severely annoying in 1.6%; and disrupting a person's ability to live a normal life in 0.5%

Estimated that 3% of adults might require a clinical intervention for tinnitus. The expectation is that a similar number of children will need clinical intervention for tinnitus (1)

There is an increase in prevalence of tinnitus with advancing age and with hearing problems (2).
The following factors are also associated with an increased incidence of tinnitus:

• women more than in men
• occupational noise
• lower socio-economic class (2)

A population based study conducted on hearing loss in adults aged 48 to 92 years revealed that

• the prevalence of tinnitus at baseline was 8.2%
• the incidence was 5.7% during a five year follow up (3)

Tinnitus is often associated with hearing loss

• for example, 75% of people with hearing loss might experience tinnitus, while only 20% to 30% of people who report tinnitus have normal hearing

Reference:

• (1) NICE (March 2020). Tinnitus:assessment and management
• (2) Baguley DM. Mechanisms of tinnitus. Br Med Bull. 2002;63:195-212
• (3) Han BI et al. Tinnitus: characteristics, causes, mechanisms, and treatments. J Clin Neurol. 2009;5(1):11-9