2024/03/28 by Aynur Aliyeva, Jae Sang Han, Yeonji Kim +4
Medicine · Neuroscience · #Audiology #Confidence interval #Cross-sectional study #Demography #Environmental health #Epidemiology #Hearing, Cochlea, Tinnitus, Genetics #Internal medicine #Logistic regression #Medicine #National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey #Pathology #Population #Quartile #Risk factor #Tinnitus #Vestibular and auditory disorders #Vitamin D and neurology #Whipple's Disease and Interleukins #vitamin D deficiency
paper · doi:10.1177/00034894241242330
crossref issued 2024/03/28 · crossref published 2024/03/28 · crossref published-online 2024/03/28 · openalex publication_date 2024/03/28 · crossref created 2024/03/28 · crossref published-print 2024/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/04/28 · crossref indexed 2026/08/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor of tinnitus has not been well known. We tried to evaluate the association between the serum 25-(OH) vitamin D levels and tinnitus among the Korean population to propose the possible role of serum vitamin D in patients with tinnitus. METHODS: This cross-sectional study investigated the potential risk factors of tinnitus in relation to serum 25(OH)D levels within the Korean population. It encompassed a health interview, nutrition assessment, and a health examination. Data was sourced from the KNHANES V (2010-2012), conducted by the Division of Health and Nutritional Survey under the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDCP). Participants were chosen from various sampling units categorized by geography, gender, and age group. The selection was facilitated through household registries using a stratified, multistage, clustered probability sampling approach. RESULTS: Data of 16 408 subjects were collected in this study. There were significant differences in gender, economic status, educational level, and sun exposure duration between the tinnitus and non-tinnitus groups. Serum 25(OH) vitamin D level between hearing loss and normal hearing was also significantly different. The logistic regression models with serum 25(OH) vitamin D quartile and tinnitus as the dependent variable, which were controlled for age, sex, smoking status, BMI, diabetes, hypertension, sun exposure, regular exercise, income, and education, eventually demonstrated that serum vitamin D deficiency and low sun exposure duration significantly increased the risk of tinnitus development. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated a significant association between serum vitamin D levels and tinnitus, driven by large epidemiological data. The results of our study provide baseline data for further research to investigate the role of vitamin D in the pathogenesis and management of tinnitus.