iPhone study: every third person over 55 has tinnitus
More than 160,000 Apple users contribute data on their hearing and environmental noise. The researchers have published findings on tinnitus.
(Image: Sebastian Trepesch)
Ringing in the ears is apparently omnipresent in the everyday lives of many older people: a good one in three people over the age of 55 report constant tinnitus and men are affected slightly more often than women, according to an interim analysis of Apple's large-scale "Hearing Study" conducted by the University of Michigan. A good 160,000 Apple users took part in the study on hearing health. Of all participants, around 15 percent would experience tinnitus daily – and over 75 percent would have experienced the symptoms at least once in their lives.
Tinnitus, mostly a "pure tone"
The majority perceive the tinnitus as "weak", a good third as "noticeable", it continues. One in ten participants had already experienced impaired hearing as a result.
According to the survey, almost 80 percent of respondents with tinnitus perceive it as a "pure sound" - usually as a single tone. A good 17 percent describe the noise as "white noise", most of them perceive it as a static sound, but a good 20 percent also compared it to the chirping of a cricket, as Apple announced on Tuesday.
However, it is still difficult to determine the cause. Among the participants, extremely high ambient noise was cited as the main trigger for tinnitus (20.3 percent), followed by stress (7.7 percent). Protecting your hearing and coping with stress could therefore at least reduce the likelihood of suffering tinnitus, the researchers write. To alleviate tinnitus, 28 percent of participants used white noise or noise machines, just under 24 percent used natural sounds and a good 12 percent used meditation. 2 percent of participants tried to treat their tinnitus with therapy. The study leaves unanswered which of these helped at all or particularly well.
Large study on hearing health
According to Apple, the study is one of the largest investigations into tinnitus. The Hearing Study has been running since 2019 and participation is possible via Apple's Research app on the iPhone - although the app is still not available in Germany. The study is mainly dedicated to the question of how environmental noise affects hearing and health, with the app recording the ambient noise level and carrying out hearing tests.
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