Tinnitus: probable association with the elderly's cervical alterations

Abstract

Introduction: Tinnitus is a prevailing symptom that highly jeopardizes the elderly patient's quality of life. Neck pain and cervical column alterations are frequent in patients complaining about tinnitus. Objective: Evaluate the prevalence of both tinnitus and neck pain on an elderly group, and verify the likely association between tinnitus, neck pain and the constraint to make wide cervical movements. Methods: Retrospective transversal study, evaluating both the width of cervical movement by way of a goniometry and the tinnitus and neck pain by requesting a standard questionnaire to be filled out. Results: Sample was comprised of 147 individuals aged between 69.22, 61.90% of whom were female. Among these individuals, 42.85% showed a buzz complaint and 51% of these individuals claimed to have a neck pain. Neither was association found between tinnitus and neck pain nor it was between tinnitus and the width constraint of cervical movements. Conclusion: Despite not finding an association between tinnitus and neck pain or between tinnitus and the width constraint of cervical movements, there was a significant prevalence of tinnitus, neck pain and a reduction in the width of cervical movements on the elderly people. The results hereof, by finding this important prevalence of tinnitus in all the individuals of this study, will be the basis to integrate health professionals engaged in such alterations.

Keywords

• tinnitus
• neck pain
• vertebral column
• elderly.