TINNITUS IN PREGNANCY

The presence of tinnitus in pregnancy was investigated by a postal que stionnaire survey. A group of pregnant women attending the ante-natal clinic and a control group of non-pregnant members of the nursing staf f at the Royal United Hospital in Bath were studied. The prevalence of tinnitus in the pregnant and non-pregnant women was compared. Both gr oups were similar in age, previous noise exposure and the presence of ear disease or operations. Twenty-five per cent of the pregnant women reported tinnitus compared with 11% of the control group. Chi-square a nalysis of this data gives a value of chi2 = 4.07, d.f. = 1, P < 0.05. The result of our survey shows that there is a significantly increase d prevalence of tinnitus in pregnant women compared with a similar non -pregnant control group. This association has not been previously repo rted.