title: Prevalence and Determinants of Tinnitus in the Italian Adult Population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Limited, outdated, and poor quality data are available on the prevalence of tinnitus, particularly in Italy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A face-to-face survey was conducted in 2014 on 2,952 individuals, who represented the Italian population aged 18 or more (50.6 million). Any tinnitus was defined as the presence of ringing or buzzing in the ears lasting for at least 5 min in the previous 12 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Any tinnitus was reported by 6.2% of Italian adults, chronic tinnitus (i.e. for more than 3 months) by 4.8%, and severe tinnitus (i.e. which constitutes a big or very big problem) by 1.2%. The corresponding estimates for the population aged ≥45 years were 8.7, 7.4 and 2.0%, respectively. Multivariable analysis on population aged ≥45 years revealed that old age (odds ratio (OR) = 4.49 for ≥75 vs. 45-54 years) and obesity (OR = 2.14 compared to normal weight) were directly related to any tinnitus, and high monthly family income (OR = 0.50) and moderate alcohol consumption (OR = 0.59 for <7 drinks/week vs. non-drinking) were inversely related.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study on tinnitus prevalence among the general Italian adult population. It indicates that in Italy tinnitus affects more than 3 million adults and is felt as a major problem by more than 600,000 Italians, mostly aged 45 years or more.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, IRCCS - Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche 'Mario Negri', Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gallus
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lugo
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Garavello
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bosetti
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Perin
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: La Vecchia
authors.forename: Berthold
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Langguth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult