Acute Stress Induces Hyperacusis in Women with High Levels of Emotional Exhaustion

Abstract

BackgroundHearing problems is one of the top ten public health disorders in the general population and there is a well-established relationship between stress and hearing problems. The aim of the present study was to explore if an acute stress will increase auditory sensitivity (hyperacusis) in individuals with high levels of emotional exhaustion (EE).MethodsHyperacusis was assessed using uncomfortable loudness levels (ULL) in 348 individuals (140 men; 208 women; age 23–71 years). Multivariate analyses (ordered logistic regression), were used to calculate odds ratios, including interacting or confounding effects of age, gender, ear wax and hearing loss (PTA). Two-way ANCOVAs were used to assess possible differences in mean ULLs between EE groups pre- and post-acute stress task (a combination of cold pressor, emotional Stroop and Social stress/video recording).ResultsThere were no baseline differences in mean ULLs between the three EE groups (one-way ANOVA). However, after the acute stress exposure there were significant differences in ULL means between the EE-groups in women. Post-hoc analyses showed that the differences in mean ULLs were between those with high vs. low EE (range 5.5–6.5 dB). Similar results were found for frequencies 0.5 and 1 kHz. The results demonstrate that women with high EE-levels display hyperacusis after an acute stress task. The odds of having hyperacusis were 2.5 (2 kHz, right ear; left ns) and 2.2 (4 kHz, right ear; left ns) times higher among those with high EE compared to those with low levels. All these results are adjusted for age, hearing loss and ear wax.ConclusionWomen with high levels of emotional exhaustion become more sensitive to sound after an acute stress task. This novel finding highlights the importance of including emotional exhaustion in the diagnosis and treatment of hearing problems.

Prevalence and Characteristics of Patients with Severe Hyperacusis among Patients Seen in a Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Clinic

“…Twelve of our patients with severe hyperacusis had a history of mental health problems and six of them were taking antidepressants. This is consistent with past studies that suggest a relationship between hyperacusis and mental health problems (Aazh & Allott, 2016;Aazh et al, 2014;Dubal & Viaud-Delmon, 2008;Goebel & Floezinger, 2008;Hasson et al, 2013;Juris et al, 2013). This highlights the need for psychiatric evaluation and treatment (when needed) of patients with severe hyperacusis.…”

Personality Traits, Perceived Stress, and Tinnitus-Related Distress in Patients With Chronic Tinnitus: Support for a Vulnerability-Stress Model

“…Whilst its causes are not always clearly identifiable and closely interlinked, chronic tinnitus has been associated with numerous risk factors (Haider et al, 2018;Trevis et al, 2018;Boecking et al, 2019) that have partly been interpreted within a vulnerabilitystress framework. For example, emotional exhaustion and low emotional well-being were found to predict the risk of developing tinnitus (Hébert et al, 2012) with the former also being shown to predict higher sensitivity to sound following an acute stress task (Hasson et al, 2013). Moreover, several studies have shown that existing emotional distress predicted higher tinnitus-related distress (Bartels et al, 2009;Schaaf et al, 2014;Wallhäusser-Franke et al, 2015;Durai and Searchfield, 2016;Strumila et al, 2017;Sahlsten et al, 2018).…”

Noise-induced hearing loss induces loudness intolerance in a rat Active Sound Avoidance Paradigm (ASAP)

“…For an animal, moderate to high intensity noise could mask relevant acoustic cues that warn of an approaching predator, social communications or pup calls to its mother (Brouette-Lahlou et al, 1992; Brudzynski, 2009; Tennessen et al, 2016). Because high intensity noise increases corticosterone/cortisol stress hormones (Alario et al, 1987; De Boer et al, 1989; Hasson et al, 2013), sound-induced avoidance behavior may be linked to the degree of stress evoked by our 60 and 90 dB noise stimuli. Long-term noise exposures alter the adrenal cortex and corticosterone plasma levels (Soldani et al, 1999).…”