Psychiatric Distress as a Common Risk Factor for Tinnitus and Joint Pain: A National Population-Based Survey

Abstract

Objectives. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between tinnitus and joint pain from representative samples of Koreans.Methods. The demographics and the responses to a questionnaire about tinnitus and joint pain severity and mental health status of adults aged ≥50 years in the 2010–2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed.Results. Among 9,032 individuals, 26.7% reported experiencing tinnitus within the past year. Participants with tinnitus were more frequently older, hearing loss, and had lower education levels, income, and body weight. Participants with regular exercise and sleep had a lower tinnitus prevalence. The incidences of stress, depressed mood, and suicidal ideation were significantly higher in the tinnitus group and participants with joint pain. The rates of participants with tinnitus according to the number of joint pain sites (zero, one, two, and three) was 22.1%, 31.4%, 33.3%, and 44.2%, and those of participants with severely annoying tinnitus according to the number of joint pain sites (zero, one, two, and three) were 3.3%, 6.8%, 7.9%, and 10.7%, respectively.Conclusion. Tinnitus prevalence and severity were significantly related to joint pain, and both conditions were related to psychiatric distress. Thus, the authors suggest that psychiatric distress as a common risk factor for tinnitus and joint pain should be considered when deciding treatment strategies and in guiding public health policy.

From Acute to Chronic Tinnitus: Pilot Data on Predictors and Progression

“…Also, temporomandibular joint or neck pathologies are discussed as moderators for tinnitus ( 7 ). Additional comorbidities such as depression ( 8 ), anxiety ( 8 ), hyperacusis ( 9 ), and personality traits such as neuroticism ( 10 ), are discussed as determining factors for the development of decompensated tinnitus, resulting in patients seeking for help. Anxiety disorders in tinnitus patients seem to be associated with more psychosocial stress ( 11 ).…”

Rate of chronic otitis media operations and cholesteatoma surgeries in South Korea: a nationwide population-based study (2006–2018)

“…South Korea has prominent advantages when conducting a nationwide study on hearing loss (HL) or otologic disease, and on rates of surgery or procedures. The reasons include (1) the territory is relatively small, (2) transportation or accessibility to medical services is excellent, and (3) the entire national population is registered with the Korean National Health Insurance Service (KNHIS), with all medical data being well organised in their respective National Health Information Database (NHID) [14][15][16] . Thus, the analysis of nationwide data on otologic surgery can provide the true rates and trends of middle ear surgery in South Korea.…”

COVID-19 associated anxiety enhances tinnitus

“…The association between tinnitus and anxiety has been investigated in many previous studies and has been well reviewed (Durai et al, 2016; Malouff et al, 2011; Mazurek et al, 2019; Pattyn et al, 2016; Wallhausser-Franke et al, 2012; Ziai et al, 2017; Zirke et al, 2013). However, no information is available on the direction and causality between the two ends of the link (Danioth et al, 2020; Lugo et al, 2020; Mazurek et al, 2019; Park et al, 2019b; Wallhausser-Franke et al, 2012), although many studies have implied that psychological states, such as those related to common stressors, influence perception of, or coping with tinnitus (Lazarus, 1993; Lazarus, 2000). In this regard, two related systems are involved in tinnitus: (1) the brain regions along the hypothalamic–pituitary– adrenal axis (see reviews (Mazurek et al, 2019; Ziai et al, 2017)), which is the main neuroendocrine system involved in stress response, and (2) the limbic system including the hippocampus and amygdala, which regulates the perception of tinnitus and the adaptation (thereby, the ability to cope with stress) (Chen et al, 2017; Kapolowicz et al, 2019; Leaver et al, 2016; Lockwood et al, 1998; Raghavan et al, 2016; Zhang et al, 2015).…”

“…For example, in many of the previous studies, the effect of anxiety on tinnitus were evaluated in a special population, such as those in veterans (Hu et al, 2015), in elderly (Danioth et al, 2020), in those with headache (Lugo et al, 2020), and those with sleeping disorders (Xu et al, 2016a). In other extreme, the link was investigated in cross-sectional studies in which the anxiety cases of different causes was included (Park et al, 2019a). Moreover, the anxiety has been evaluated with many different methods, including Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (McKenna et al, 2017), Beck Anxiety Index (Mahboubi et al, 2017), as well as SAS (Xu et al, 2016b).…”