Psychological aspects of tinnitus: A comparison with hearing loss and ear,nose and throat disorders

It is well established that tinnitus is sometimes associated with marked ps ychological distress, including anxiety and depression. As yet, however, it is unclear whether the problems are specific to tinnitus or may occur in o ther hearing disorders too. A total of 95 patients with tinnitus were compa red with 73 people with hearing loss but no tinnitus, and with a further 80 people attending an out-patient clinic for a variety of other ear, nose an d throat (ENT) problems. The principal measures were the Hospital Anxiety a nd Depression Scale and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The tinnitus patients were significantly more anxious, depressed, and neurotic than the hearing loss group, but were equivalent to the ENT group; and, like the he aring loss group, they were significantly less extraverted than the ENT con trols. There were no differences between tinnitus patients with severe hear ing loss, mild hearing loss, and no hearing loss. Results from Hallam's Sho rt Tinnitus Questionnaire revealed that tinnitus patients without hearing l oss reported significantly fewer difficulties with auditory perception than either of the other tinnitus groups, and significantly fewer irrational be liefs than the group with severe hearing loss. It is concluded that patient s with tinnitus were more distressed than people with hearing loss, but tha t their distress was shared by patients with a variety of other ENT problem s. People who reported the greatest problems with their tinnitus were gener ally those who also had severe hearing loss.