Health Reports: Tinnitus in Canada
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Released: 2019-03-20
An estimated 37% of adult Canadians (9.2 million) experienced tinnitus in the past year. It was bothersome for 7%, affecting sleep, concentration or mood. Tinnitus is the perception of noise, such as ringing or hissing, without an external, sound-producing source and can range in severity from a temporary inconvenience to a chronic, life-interfering condition. A new study released today in Health Reports explores factors associated with the condition.
Younger adults, aged 19 to 29, were significantly more likely to have past-year tinnitus (46%) than those aged 30 to 49 (33%) and 50 to 79 (35%). This could be because younger adults were more likely to use audio devices with headphones or earbuds (80% compared with 53% for ages 30 to 49 and 28% for ages 50 to 79) and averaged use at loud volume for more hours each week, which are both risk factors for tinnitus.
Tinnitus was also associated with the mental health of those with the condition. Ratings of poor or fair mental health were higher for those with bothersome (17%) or non-bothersome tinnitus (10%) than those without the condition (6%). The prevalence of a mood disorder such as depression or bipolar disorder was more than twice as high for those with bothersome (19%) or non-bothersome tinnitus (17%) than for adults without tinnitus (8%).
Sleep was never or rarely refreshing for 30% of people with bothersome tinnitus and 23% of people with non-bothersome tinnitus—rates significantly higher than for those without tinnitus (17%).
Note to readers
This study was based on a sample of 6,571 respondents (3,250 men and 3,321 women) aged 19 to 79 to the Canadian Health Measures Survey cycles 3 and 4. The combined cycle 3 and 4 response rate for the household and mobile examination centre components was 52.7%. The weighted sample from cycles 3 (n=3,288) and 4 (n=3,283) represented a population of 25.9 million Canadians.
Products
"Tinnitus in Canada" is now available in the March 2019 online issue of Health Reports, Vol. 30, no. 3 (82-003-X).
This issue of Health Reports also contains the article " Effects of replacing sitting time with physical activity on lung function: An analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging."
Contact information
To enquire about "Tinnitus in Canada," contact Pamela Ramage-Morin (pamela.ramage-morin@canada.ca), Health Analysis Division.
To enquire about "Effects of replacing sitting time with physical activity on lung function: An analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging," contact Shilpa Dogra (Shilpa.Dogra@uoit.ca), University of Ontario Institute of Technology.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
For more information about Health Reports, contact Janice Felman (613-799-7746; janice.felman@canada.ca), Health Analysis Division.
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