Tinnitus and hearing loss in 15-16-year-old students: mental health symptoms, substance use, and exposure in school.

The current study assessed the responses from a survey titled 'Life and Health - Young People 2005', completed by 2878 15-16-year-old adolescents in mainstream schools in the county of Orebro, Sweden. Thirty-nine percent of students with hearing loss (slight, mild, or moderate) and 6% of students with normal hearing reported tinnitus often or always during the past three months. Almost no gender difference was observed among students with normal-hearing reporting tinnitus (boys 6.3%, girls 5.6%); however, a gender difference was noticed among hard-of-hearing (HH) students (boys 50%, girls 28%). Adolescents with both hearing loss and tinnitus reported considerably higher scores for mental health symptoms, substance use, and school problems than other students. Anxiety in the past three months, male gender, and alcohol consumption in the past year were associated with tinnitus in HH students; irritation and anxiety in the past three months, disability, use of illicit drugs, and truancy predicted tinnitus in the normal-hearing group. Consequently, students with a hearing loss and tinnitus are at high risk and should be monitored for subsequent problems.