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Trial Lecture – time and place
See Trial Lecture.
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Research fellow Sarah Cook, Imperial College London,
- Second opponent: Professor Camilla Martha Ihlebæk, Norwegian University of Life Sciences,
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Researcher Guro Haugen Fossum, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor emeritus Magne Nylenna, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Senior Researcher Norun Hjertager Krog, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Summary
Tinnitus can be debilitating to individuals who experience it, and it is often accompanied by both somatic and psychological comorbidities. In this thesis, we examined comorbidity with tinnitus in a general adult population, focusing on chronic pain, cardiovascular disease, and frequency of healthcare use. We also investigated if tinnitus symptom intensity and bother affected the associations.
The thesis used data from the seventh survey of the Tromsø Study, Tromsø7 (n=21.083, age 40-99 years). Participants had reported in a questionnaire if they had experienced tinnitus for more than five minutes during the past 12 months, including its frequency and degree of bother. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine associations between self-reported chronic pain and tinnitus, as well as tinnitus and self-reported myocardial infarction and stroke, and measured hypertension. We used negative binomial regression models to study the associations between tinnitus and self-reported frequency of healthcare use. All analyses were adjusted for potential confounding variables.
Our results showed comorbidity between tinnitus and chronic pain, but no clear association between tinnitus and cardiovascular disease. The association between chronic pain and tinnitus was stronger for more bothersome tinnitus, and strongest for the youngest age group (40-54 years). There were weak positive associations between tinnitus and cardiovascular disease, but these were mostly non-significant. The strongest associations between tinnitus intensity and cardiovascular outcomes were found for low intensity tinnitus. There were also positive associations between tinnitus and frequency of healthcare use, generally strengthening with increasing tinnitus bother.
Overall, our findings indicate that healthcare for tinnitus should be examined for comorbidities, and tinnitus should be paid attention to by health personnel even if the occurrence is infrequent and bother level is low.
Additional information
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