Reprinted from TidBITS by permission; reuse governed by Creative Commons license BY-NC-ND 3.0. TidBITS has offered years of thoughtful commentary on Apple and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and access to the entire TidBITS archive, visit http://www.tidbits.com/ Apple Hearing Study Shares Early Findings on Tinnitus Adam Engst [1]Apple writes: The Apple Hearing Study is sharing new insights on tinnitus in one of the largest surveys to date. Through the study, University of Michigan researchers reviewed a cohort of more than 160,000 participants who answered survey questions and completed app-based assessments to characterize their experience of tinnitus. This research aims to improve understanding of tinnitus characteristics and inform future research on potential treatments. About 15% of the self-selected participants in the study suffer daily from tinnitus, the perception of sound that others do not hear. I've never experienced it as far as I know, and I had no idea it was so common or that it's three times more likely for people aged 55 and up. The study's findings about prevalence, causes, and management may be particularly interesting if you or someone you know experiences tinnitus. The [2]Apple Hearing Study studies sound exposure and its impact on hearing health. It has produced interactive US maps of noise exposure, findings about headphone listening levels,and more. It was [3]launched in 2019 alongside the [4]Apple Women's Health Study and the [5]Apple Heart and Movement Study. Why has Apple launched no new studies since 2019? The reasons likely revolve around limited sensor data from the Apple Watch, regulatory hurdles surrounding medical research and devices, prioritization of the existing studies, and internal disagreements about overall direction. As reported in a Bloomberg piece from November 2023, [6]Apple has ambitious ideas surrounding healthcare but faces technical, regulatory, and business obstacles in realizing them. [7]Read original article References 1. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/05/apple-hearing-study-shares-preliminary-insights-on-tinnitus/ 2. https://sph.umich.edu/applehearingstudy/ 3. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/09/apple-announces-three-groundbreaking-health-studies/ 4. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/applewomenshealthstudy/ 5. https://www.heart.org/en/get-involved/apple-heart-and-movement-study 6. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-11-01/apple-health-blood-pressure-glucose-sleep-apnea-team-issues 7. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/05/apple-hearing-study-shares-preliminary-insights-on-tinnitus/ .