gms | German Medical Science

82nd Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

01.06. - 05.06.2011, Freiburg

Determinants of tinnitus-related distress – an epidemiological study in 4705 tinnitus patients

Meeting Abstract

Search Medline for

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. 82nd Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. Freiburg, 01.-05.06.2011. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2011. Doc11hno25

doi: 10.3205/11hno25, urn:nbn:de:0183-11hno250

Published: August 3, 2011

© 2011 Delb et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.


Outline

Text

From September 2010 to January 2011 we performed a cross-sectional survey among the members of the German Tinnitus League (DTL). 4705, i.e. 29.4% of the DTL-members had sent in a complete questionnaire by January 2011.

The questionnaire consisted of questions regarding tinnitus characteristics and history, including the miniversion of the Tinnitus Questionnaire [1], questions about the audiologic status, somatic comorbidites and mental health [2], [3] as well as about the social situation [4].

Subjectively perceived tinnitus loudness was correlated with tinnitus-associated distress (Pearson, r=.525), and a spurious correlation existed between tinnitus-related distress and hyperacusis (r=.35) which disappeared when correcting for a possible influence of depression (r=.24). Psychologic comorbidity, indicated by enhanced levels of depression, anxiety and somatisation (SAD trias, [2]) was more prevalent in people showing a relevant degree of tinnitus-related distress and in those who reported hyperacusis. Almost 79% of the patients in the study group reported hearing impairment in addition to the tinnitus, but only 50% of them used a hearing aid. If hearing aids were used, tinnitus-loudness decreased in 30% of all hearing-aid users, with those having non-distressing tinnitus benefitting more than those with a severely disabling tinnitus.

The use of hearing aids should be encouraged. If providing persons with high tinnitus-related distress with hearing aids, concurrent psychotherapeutic interventions have to be considered since this condition may be associated with poor mental health.


References

1.
Hiller W, Goebel G. Factors Influencing Tinnitus Loudness and Annoyance. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2006;132:1323-30.
2.
Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB, Löwe B. The Patient Health Questionnaire Somatic, Anxiety, and Depressive Symptom Scales: a systematic review. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2010;32(4):345-59. DOI: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2010.03.006 External link
3.
Leppert K, Koch B, Brähler E, Strauß B. Die Resilienzskala (RS) – Überprüfung der Langform RS-25 und einer Kurzform RS-13. Klinische Diagnostik und Evaluation. 2008;1(2):226-43.
4.
Nübling M, Stößel U, Hasselhorn HM, Michaelis M, Hofmann F. Measuring psychological stress and strain at work – Evaluation of the COPSOQ Questionnaire in Germany. Psychosoc Med. 2006;3:Doc05.