Prevalence of Hyperacusis and Its Relation to Health: The Busselton Healthy Ageing Study

Abstract

Importance: The prevalence of hyperacusis and its relationship with mental and general health is unknown in a nonclinical sample. Therefore, we aimed to determine the prevalence of hyperacusis and its relation with hearing, general and mental health in a population-based study.Study Design: Prospective population-based study.Material and Methods: This study uses data from the Busselton Healthy Ageing Study (BHAS). A sample of 5,107 eligible inhabitants aged 45 to 70 years completed a detailed questionnaire and a clinical assessment. A positive answer to "Do you consider yourself sensitive or intolerant to everyday sounds" was used to indicate hyperacusis. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between hearing, mental and general health factors, and hyperacusis.Results: Of 5,107 participants, 775 (15.2%) reported hyperacusis. The majority of participants with hyperacusis reported an occasional effect on daily life (72.0%). Being female, older in age, having a lower income, physical or mental health difficulties, more severe hearing loss, and tinnitus were all associated with the presence of hyperacusis. Individuals who experience hearing impairment, poorer general or mental health have a higher possibility of hyperacusis having an effect on their daily life.Conclusions: In this community population-based cohort study, we found a prevalence of hyperacusis of 15.2%. Individuals with hearing loss, mental health problems, and lower physical health have a higher possibility of experiencing effects on their daily life associated with their hyperacusis. Unravelling the relationship between hyperacusis hearing, general and mental health can be of major importance for a better understanding of the condition and its consequences.

Hyperacusis: demographic, audiological, and clinical characteristics of patients at the ENT department

“…While more men present themselves at our department with complaints of tinnitus and/or hyperacusis, it was interesting that there were relatively more women in the hyperacusis group and that women showed more severe complaints. This result is in agreement with gender differences previously reported in the field of tinnitus and hyperacusis [10,11,37], and can be explained by maladaptive coping strategies being more likely in women [38]. Other proposed theories are an intermediate influence of emotional exhaustion and stress on auditory sensitivity in women [39] and/or differences in stress coping, as there is a well-established relationship between stress and hearing problems [39].…”

“…Hence, the presence of hyperacusis indicates that the need for treatment might be higher. The risk for comorbid anxiety and depression disorder being higher in patients with hyperacusis is an important red flag for clinicians to bear in mind [10,12].…”

“…7-79%) has been estimated to be much higher when compared to the prevalence in the general population (i.e. 8-15%) [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Similarly, the prevalence of tinnitus in a hyperacusis population (i.e.…”

Hyperacusis and Misophonia: A Systematic Review of Psychometric Measures

“…Handicap Questionnaire (HHQ), ( 5) Short Hyperacusis Questionnaire, (6) Amsterdam Misophonia Scale (A-MISO-S), (7) MisoQuest, and (8) the Misophonia Questionnaire (MQ).…”

“…Prevalence estimates range from 2% to 15.2% for hyperacusis (6,7) and 6% to 49.1% for misophonia (8)(9)(10). It is likely that the discrepancy in prevalence reports is related the differences in study populations and the way that hyperacusis and misophonia were assessed and diagnosed.…”