The association between tinnitus and the risk of ischemic cerebrovascular disease in young and middle-aged patients: A secondary case-control analysis of a nationwide, population-based health claims database.

BACKGROUND: Tinnitus and ischemic cerebrovascular disease (ICVD) may share common pathophysiologic mechanisms. Nevertheless, no studies have investigated whether tinnitus is associated with a higher risk of ICVD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of ICVD among young and middle-aged patients with tinnitus.

METHODS: Using the Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, we identified 3,474 patients 20-45 years old with incident ICVD diagnosed between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2010 and 17,370 controls, frequency matched on age interval, sex, and year of the index date. Risk of ICVD associated with tinnitus was assessed using multiple logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS: Tinnitus was significantly associated with a higher risk of incident ICVD among young and middle-aged patients (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.66, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.34-2.04), adjusting for sex, age, and comorbidities. In addition, sex-stratified analysis showed that the associations were significant in both male (adjusted OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.16-2.07) and female patients (adjusted OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.30-2.41). Furthermore, tinnitus was significantly associated with a higher risk of ICVD in the 20.0-29.9 years (adjusted OR 4.11, 95% CI 1.98-8.52) and 30.0-39.9 years (adjusted OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.57-3.05) age groups, but not in the 40.0-45.0 years age group.

CONCLUSIONS: Tinnitus could be a novel risk factor or clinical indicator for young ischemic stroke, and further investigations are warranted.