Increase in number of people with tinnitus visiting family doctor over time

General practitioners saw an increasing number of patients with tinnitus over the past decade, but the absolute number remained low. Healthcare use by these patients increased after the first recorded GP contact for tinnitus. Moreover, in the year before the first GP contact for tinnitus, people with tinnitus more often consulted the GP than patients without tinnitus registration. The results of this Nivel study have been published open access in the scientific journal PLoS One.

Tinnitus is characterized by hearing a sound that is not actually there. Nivel mapped trends in the prevalence and use of care for tinnitus in general practice. We also examined whether there was a difference in the healthcare use of comparable patients with and without tinnitus. Patients were considered comparable if they received care in the same general practice, were within the same age group and were of the same gender. 

Increase in number of patients visiting the general practitioner for tinnitus

The number of patients visiting the general practitioner for tinnitus has increased in recent years. The total number of patients per year having one or more contacts with the general practice for this symptom is limited: about 4 per 1,000 patients registered with the general practice in 2021. Patients aged 45 years and older visited the GP most often for tinnitus. Patients aged between 20 and 44 years showed the greatest increase in GP visits for this symptom. Underlying causes for the increased number of patients with tinnitus were not investigated in this study. It may be because more people are exposed to loud noise during leisure activities, but increased media attention to tinnitus may also have led to more GP visits.

More healthcare use before and after first tinnitus contact than in similar patients

Patients with tinnitus were more likely to use GP care the year after the first GP contact for tinnitus than comparable patients without tinnitus who had a GP contact for another diagnosis. For example, more patients with tinnitus were referred to the medical specialist by the GP than comparable patients without tinnitus. In addition, patients were also more likely to seek contact with their GP a year before the first GP contact for tinnitus and were also more likely to be referred to a medical specialist before the first contact for tinnitus. More research is needed to find out what causes this. This can then contribute to more targeted prevention.

About the study

Nivel collects and analyzes electronic health record data that health care providers at practices participating in Nivel Primary Care Database routinely record. For this study, we used data from electronic patient records of primary care practices participating in Nivel Primary Care Database for the years 2012 through 2021.