May 28, 2024
update
Apple Hearing Study shares preliminary insights into tinnitus.
Researchers at the University of Michigan have released data from one of the largest studies of tinnitus to date.
Apple Hearing Research is sharing new insights into tinnitus through one of the largest surveys conducted to date.
In the study, University of Michigan researchers characterized their tinnitus experiences by examining a cohort of more than 160,000 participants who answered survey questions and completed an app-based assessment. This study aims to increase understanding of the nature of tinnitus and inform future research into potential treatments.
“About 15% of participants experience tinnitus on a daily basis,” said Rick Neitzel, professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. “Tinnitus is a disease that can have a significant impact on a person’s life. The trends we are learning from the Apple Hearing Study about people's experiences with tinnitus can help us better understand which groups are most at risk and, in turn, guide efforts to reduce the impacts associated with tinnitus. This might help. “The Apple Hearing Study provides opportunities never before possible to advance our understanding of tinnitus across demographics and support current scientific knowledge that can ultimately improve tinnitus management.”
Tinnitus, or the perception of sounds that others do not hear, can occur in one or both ears for many people. In the case of tinnitus, sounds can come in many forms, but are most commonly described as ringing sounds and can occur either temporarily or over a long period of time. Tinnitus symptoms and experiences can vary greatly from person to person and can vary from person to person.
Tinnitus can affect a person's overall quality of life. For example, it may interfere with a person's ability to sleep, concentrate, or hear clearly.
The first step to increasing your understanding of tinnitus is to learn more about who experiences it, how the experience varies across people and within individuals over time, potential causes, methods for managing tinnitus, and the perceived effects.
Tinnitus prevalence
The study found that 77.6% of participants had experienced tinnitus in their lifetime, and that the prevalence of daily tinnitus increases with age among many people. People aged 55 and over were three times more likely to hear tinnitus every day compared to those aged 18 to 34. Additionally, male participants were 2.7% more likely than women to experience daily tinnitus. However, 4.8% more men responded that they had never experienced tinnitus.
tinnitus management
In the Apple Hearing Study, participants primarily reported trying three methods to relieve existing tinnitus: using a noise maker (28%), listening to nature sounds (23.7%), and practicing meditation (12.2%). Less than 2.1% of participants chose cognitive and behavioral therapy to manage their tinnitus.
Causes of Tinnitus
Given the complex causes of tinnitus, there is no guaranteed way to prevent it, but wearing hearing protection and managing your stress levels can lower your chances of developing tinnitus. In the study, participants cited “noise trauma” or exposure to excessively high levels of noise as the main cause of tinnitus (20.3%), followed by stress (7.7%).
Characteristics of tinnitus
The majority of participants experienced brief tinnitus compared to 14.7% who reported persistent tinnitus. The reported duration of tinnitus increased significantly with age for participants over 55 years of age. 35.8% of participants over 55 years of age experience persistent tinnitus. Male participants were nearly 6.8% more likely to experience persistent tinnitus than women.
Regarding the level of tinnitus, the majority said it was faint, with 34.4% saying it was noticeable, while 8.8% said it was very loud or very loud. Ten percent of participants reported that tinnitus interfered somewhat or completely with their ability to hear clearly.
In addition to the survey questions, participants experiencing tinnitus also completed an app-based sound test to better characterize their tinnitus experience by matching the type and quality of sounds they experience.
The majority of participants described their tinnitus as pure tones (78.5%) or white noise (17.4%). Of those who described pure tones, 90.8% reported tones above 4 kHz, similar to the calls of songbirds. Additionally, for those who described pure tones, 83.5% identified their tinnitus as a single tone and 16.5% identified it as a teakettle tone (a high-pitched whistling sound).
For participants who matched their tinnitus to white noise, 57.7% identified it as a static sound, 21.7% compared it to the sound of crickets, 11.2% identified it as an electronic sound, and 9.4% identified it as a pulsed sound.
The Apple Hearing Study is one of three groundbreaking public health studies included in the Research app on iPhone that launched in 2019 and is currently ongoing.
Apple Hearing Research, conducted in partnership with the University of Michigan, advances understanding of sound exposure and its impact on hearing health. Researchers have already collected approximately 400 million hours of calculated environmental noise levels, supplemented by lifestyle surveys, to analyze how sound exposure affects hearing, stress and hearing-related health aspects. Research data will also be shared with the World Health Organization (WHO) to contribute to the Make Listening Safe initiative.
How can Apple products help you?
Apple technologies provide a variety of features to support your hearing health with just a tap.
noise app: Apple Watch users can use the Noise app to enable notifications for when environmental noise levels may affect hearing health. The Health app on iPhone tracks your noise exposure history and lets you know if your headphone audio levels or environmental noise levels exceed those recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) standards.
Reduce environmental noise: Apple Watch users will notice a decrease in ambient noise levels while wearing AirPods Pro and AirPods Max.
Active noise cancellation and loud sound reduction mode: Active noise cancellation uses the microphone to detect external sounds, and AirPods Pro responds with noise cancellation to cancel external sounds before the user hears them. For those who want to still enjoy the sounds around them, the loud sound reduction feature on AirPods Pro (2nd generation) helps reduce loud noises while maintaining sound fidelity.
reduce loud noise: To set headphone volume limits, users can go to Settings, then tap Sounds & Haptics (iPhone 7 or later) or Sounds (for earlier models). You can then tap Headphone Safety to turn on Reduce Loud Sounds and drag the slider to your desired decibel level.
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