The Therapeutic Objective: Reducing the Stress Caused by Tinnitus

… Clinic Journal of …, 2011

Tinnitus is distressing and affects the quality of life for many patients. Because primary care physicians may be the entry point for patients seeking help for tinnitus, we urge them to acknowledge this symptom and its potential negative impact on the patient's health and quality of life. Physicians should actively listen to the patient and provide hope and encouragement, but also provide realistic expectations about the course of treatment. The patient must also understand that there may be no singular "cure" for tinnitus and that management may involve multidisciplinary assessment and treatment.

Journal of the American Academy of Audiology

Tinnitus is one of the most distressing hearing-related symptoms. It is often associated with a range of physiological and psychological complications, such as depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Hence, approaching tinnitus from a biopsychological perspective may be more appropriate than from purely a biomedical model. The present study was aimed at determining the relationship between tinnitus and the problems and life effects experienced by UK-based tinnitus research study volunteers. Open-ended questions were used. Responses were classified using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework to understand the impact of tinnitus in a multidimensional manner using a biopsychosocial perspective. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Study sample included a sample of 240 adults with tinnitus who were interested in undertaking an Internet-based intervention for tinnitus. The data were collated using two open-ended questions. The first focuse...

Acta …, 2012

Tinnitus represents one of the most frequent symptoms observed in the general population in association with different pathologies, although often its etiology remains unclear. Objective of this work is to evidence the main aspects concerning epidemiology, causes, audiological characteristics and psychological consequences of tinnitus.

Hno, 2019

ICD-10 Symptom Rating questionnaire for assessment of psychological comorbidities in patients with chronic tinnitus Background The term "tinnitus" (Latintinnire = ringing) refers to the condition in which people perceive sounds in the absence of external acoustic stimuli. There are two types of tinnitus: subjective and objective. "Objective" tinnitus can be perceived with aids-and sometimes even by the examiner. Possible causes comprise vascular malformations, arteriovenous (AV) fistulas, or paragangliomas. "Subjective" tinnitus, however, is far more common. It can only be perceived by the patient and cannot be objectified by conventional audiological diagnostics. Causes for subjective tinnitus are manifold and not always diagnosable. Possible risk factors are, for example, frequent noise exposure, ototoxic drugs, arterial hypertension, or otitis media [1]. Tinnitus is common in the general population. Langguth et al. [2] estimated the prevalence of tinnitus as ranging from 10 to 15%. Epidemiological studies show that chronic tinnitus is highly associated with psychological comorbidities [3, 4]. Common conditions include sleep difficulties, depression, or anxiety disorders that can lead to adverse effects across almost all domains of life for tinnitus sufferers. Depression and anxiety disor-The German version of this article can be found under

Progress in Brain Research, 2021

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HNO

Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 1992

Dimensions of psychological complaints due to chronic and disabling tinnitus were investigated by means of the Tinnitus Questionnaire (TQ), administered to a sample of 138 tinnitus sufferers who had been admitted to a psychosomatic hospital. Factor analysis revealed that tinnitus-related patterns of emotional and cognitive distress, intrusiveness, auditory perceptual difficulties, sleep disturbances, and somatic complaints can be differentiated. Cognitive distortions and inappropriate attitudes towards the tinnitus and it's personal consequences were found to be highly intercorrelated forming a subgroup within a broader and more general distress factor. The stability of the factor solution obtained was examined by systematically varying the number of factors to be extracted. Based on the results of this method, scales are proposed for the questionnaire which can be used in clinical and scientific work to specifically assess major areas of tinnitus-related distress and their degree of severity. Implications for a further evaluation of the instrument are discussed.

American Journal of Audiology, 2014

Purpose To create a questionnaire focused on the primary activities impaired by tinnitus and therefore more sensitive to treatments. Method Questions were developed on (a) emotions, (b) hearing, (c) sleep, and (d) concentration. A 20-item questionnaire was administered to 158 patients. First, confirmatory factor analysis was used to select 3 questions per domain. Second, factor analysis was used to evaluate the appropriateness of the 12-item questionnaire. Results The analysis indicated that the selected questions successfully represented 4 independent domains. Scores were correlated with the Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire ( r = .77, p < .01) and loudness ( r = .40, p < .01). The Sleep subscale correlated with the Pittsburgh Sleep Index ( r = .68, p < .01); the Emotion subscale correlated with the Beck Inventory ( r = .66, p < .01) and the Trait Anxiety questionnaire ( r = .67, p < .01). The average scores went from 51% to 38% following treatment. Conclusion The Tinn...

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2016

Objective: The primary cause of subjective tinnitus is a dysfunction of the auditory system; however, the degree of distress tinnitus causes depends largely on the psychological status of the patient. Our goal was to attempt to associate the grade of tinnitus-related distress with the psychological distress, physical, or psychological discomfort patients experienced, as well as potentially relevant social parameters, through a simultaneous analysis of these factors. Methods: We determined the level of tinnitus-related distress in 531 tinnitus patients using the German version of the tinnitus questionnaire (TQ). In addition, we used the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ); General Depression Scale Allgemeine Depression Skala (ADS), Berlin Mood Questionnaire (BSF); somatic symptoms inventory (BI), and SF-8 health survey as well as general information collected through a medical history. Results: The TQ score significantly correlated with a score obtained using PSQ, ADS, BSF, BI, and SF-8 alongside psychosocial factors such as age, gender, and marital status. The level of hearing loss and the auditory properties of the specific tinnitus combined with perceived stress and the degree of depressive mood and somatic discomfort of a patient were identified as medium-strong predictors of chronic tinnitus. Social factors such as gender, age, or marital status also had an impact on the degree of tinnitus distress. The results that were obtained were implemented in a specific cortical distress network model. Conclusions: Using a large representative sample of patients with chronic tinnitus permitted a simultaneous statistical measurement of psychometric and audiological parameters in predicting tinnitus distress. We demonstrate that single factors can be distinguished in a manner that explains their causative association and influence on the induction of tinnitus-related distress.