Psychological distress associated with acute tinnitus

D’Amelio, Roberto; Archonti, Christina; Scholz, Sean S.; Falkai, Peter; Plinkert, Peter K.; Delb, W.

doi:10.1007/s00106-003-0944-5

Cited by 42 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The threshold we used for the distinction between moderate and severe cases requires the presence of at least seven bothering somatic symptoms, and is seen as a reliable distinction between presence of somatoform disorders in comparison to their absence [28]. The present finding also is in line with observations that tinnitus patients with high levels of self- and somatic attention express greater emotional and tinnitus-related distress [35]–[37], and that depressed tinnitus patients display strong somatic focus resulting in a tendency to report large numbers of medically unexplained symptoms [36].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Longitudinal studies with a small number of acute tinnitus patients suggest that psychopathological conditions exist beforehand and constitute risk factors for the development of a distressing tinnitus or that they arise together with the tinnitus [33], [37]. This does not exclude the possibility, however, that tinnitus promotes the progression of psychopathologies and it appears likely that both developments exist.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Tinnitus: Distinguishing between Subjectively Perceived Loudness and Tinnitus-Related Distress

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ObjectivesOverall success of current tinnitus therapies is low, which may be due to the heterogeneity of tinnitus patients. Therefore, subclassification of tinnitus patients is expected to improve therapeutic allocation, which, in turn, is hoped to improve therapeutic success for the individual patient. The present study aims to define factors that differentially influence subjectively perceived tinnitus loudness and tinnitus-related distress.MethodsIn a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey, the data of 4705 individuals with tinnitus were analyzed. The self-report questionnaire contained items about subjective tinnitus loudness, type of onset, awareness and localization of the tinnitus, hearing impairment, chronic comorbidities, sleep quality, and psychometrically validated questionnaires addressing tinnitus-related distress, depressivity, anxiety, and somatic symptom severity. In a binary step-wise logistic regression model, we tested the predictive power of these variables on subjective tinnitus loudness and tinnitus-related distress.ResultsThe present data contribute to the distinction between subjective tinnitus loudness and tinnitus-related distress. Whereas subjective loudness was associated with permanent awareness and binaural localization of the tinnitus, tinnitus-related distress was associated with depressivity, anxiety, and somatic symptom severity.ConclusionsSubjective tinnitus loudness and the potential presence of severe depressivity, anxiety, and somatic symptom severity should be assessed separately from tinnitus-related distress. If loud tinnitus is the major complaint together with mild or moderate tinnitus-related distress, therapies should focus on auditory perception. If levels of depressivity, anxiety or somatic symptom severity are severe, therapies and further diagnosis should focus on these symptoms at first.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Tinnitus: Distinguishing between Subjectively Perceived Loudness and Tinnitus-Related Distress

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This interpretation is corroborated by longitudinal studies, which suggest that depression and anxiety levels at tinnitus onset are related to the progression of tinnitus-related distress [3, 4]. Furthermore, it was observed that depression and anxiety in tinnitus sufferers decreased with time only in those tinnitus patients that did not exhibit personality disorders [9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…The distress associated with tinnitus shows closer relation with factors related to emotional health as depression, anxiety, and somatic symptom severity than with the loudness of the tinnitus [2]. Moreover, depression and anxiety were found to be enhanced at tinnitus onset in patients who later develop high tinnitus-related distress [3, 4] suggesting that emotional health may be prognostic for future tinnitus-related distress. It cannot be excluded, however, that distressing tinnitus adversely influences emotional health and that its association with depression and anxiety is overestimated due to content overlap in the questionnaires [5, 6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tinnitus-Related Distress and the Personality Characteristic Resilience

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It has been suggested that personality traits may be prognostic for the severity of suffering from tinnitus. Resilience as measured with the Wagnild and Young resilience scale represents a positive personality characteristic that promotes adaptation to adverse life conditions including chronic health conditions. Aim of the study was to explore the relation between resilience and tinnitus severity. In a cross-sectional study with a self-report questionnaire, information on tinnitus-related distress and subjective tinnitus loudness was recorded together with the personality characteristic resilience and emotional health, a measure generated from depression, anxiety, and somatic symptom severity scales. Data from 4705 individuals with tinnitus indicate that tinnitus-related distress and to a lesser extent the experienced loudness of the tinnitus show an inverse correlation with resilience. A mediation analysis revealed that the relationship between resilience and tinnitus-related distress is mediated by emotional health. This indirect effect indicates that high resilience is associated with better emotional health or less depression, anxiety, and somatic symptom severity, which in turn is associated with a less distressing tinnitus. Validity of resilience as a predictor for tinnitus-related distress is supported but needs to be explored further in longitudinal studies including acute tinnitus patients.

show abstract

“…In the past, the majority of EEG studies focused on differences between tinnitus and non-tinnitus subjects and did not account for psychological comorbidities although many tinnitus patients suffer from comorbid depressivity or anxiety [45], [46], which themselves might cause changes in oscillatory brain activity [47], [48]. We tested this in the present study and were unable to demonstrate an association between scores in the depressivity, somatization, or anxiety scales of the SCL-90-R questionnaire and band power.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychoacoustic Tinnitus Loudness and Tinnitus-Related Distress Show Different Associations with Oscillatory Brain Activity

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe phantom auditory perception of subjective tinnitus is associated with aberrant brain activity as evidenced by magneto- and electroencephalographic studies. We tested the hypotheses (1) that psychoacoustically measured tinnitus loudness is related to gamma oscillatory band power, and (2) that tinnitus loudness and tinnitus-related distress are related to distinct brain activity patterns as suggested by the distinction between loudness and distress experienced by tinnitus patients. Furthermore, we explored (3) how hearing impairment, minimum masking level, and (4) psychological comorbidities are related to spontaneous oscillatory brain activity in tinnitus patients.Methods and FindingsResting state oscillatory brain activity recorded electroencephalographically from 46 male tinnitus patients showed a positive correlation between gamma band oscillations and psychoacoustic tinnitus loudness determined with the reconstructed tinnitus sound, but not with the other psychoacoustic loudness measures that were used. Tinnitus-related distress did also correlate with delta band activity, but at electrode positions different from those associated with tinnitus loudness. Furthermore, highly distressed tinnitus patients exhibited a higher level of theta band activity. Moreover, mean hearing loss between 0.125 kHz and 16 kHz was associated with a decrease in gamma activity, whereas minimum masking levels correlated positively with delta band power. In contrast, psychological comorbidities did not express significant correlations with oscillatory brain activity.ConclusionDifferent clinically relevant tinnitus characteristics show distinctive associations with spontaneous brain oscillatory power. Results support hypothesis (1), but exclusively for the tinnitus loudness derived from matching to the reconstructed tinnitus sound. This suggests to preferably use the reconstructed tinnitus spectrum to determine psychoacoustic tinnitus loudness. Results also support hypothesis (2). Moreover, hearing loss and minimum masking level correlate with oscillatory power in distinctive frequency bands. The lack of an association between psychological comorbidities and oscillatory power may be attributed to the overall low level of mental health problems in the present sample.

show abstract

Psychological distress associated with acute tinnitus

Cited by 42 publications

References 23 publications

Tinnitus: Distinguishing between Subjectively Perceived Loudness and Tinnitus-Related Distress

Tinnitus: Distinguishing between Subjectively Perceived Loudness and Tinnitus-Related Distress

Tinnitus-Related Distress and the Personality Characteristic Resilience

Psychoacoustic Tinnitus Loudness and Tinnitus-Related Distress Show Different Associations with Oscillatory Brain Activity

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About