U-M-led Apple Hearing Study reveals prevalence of tinnitus

About 78% of participants in the Apple Hearing Study, conducted by the University of Michigan, have experienced tinnitus—the perception of sound that others do not hear.

That is just one of the findings that U-M researchers and Apple shared today from the Apple Hearing Study, one of the largest surveys on tinnitus to understand the effects of sound on hearing health. The study involved a cohort of 160,000 participants and focused on the demographics and characteristics of people with tinnitus in order to inform future research on potential treatments.

“Tinnitus is something that can have a large impact on a person’s life. The trends that we’re learning through the Apple Hearing Study about people’s experience with tinnitus can help us better understand the groups most at risk, which can in turn help guide efforts to reduce the impacts associated with it,” said Richard Neitzel, professor of environmental health sciences and global health at U-M’s School of Public Health, and director of the Center for Occupational Health and Safety Engineering.

“The Apple Hearing Study gives us an opportunity that was not possible before to improve our understanding of tinnitus across demographics, aiding current scientific knowledge that can ultimately improve our management of tinnitus.”

The report is from one of three landmark public health studies in the Apple Research app on iPhone, which launched in 2019.

Video: U-M researcher Richard Neitzel on noise and our health