Tinnitus and the prevalence of co-morbid psychological stress

Abstract

Background: Tinnitus is a symptom of unknown pathophysiology with few therapeutic measures and may present with co-morbid psychological stresses necessitating psychiatric treatment. This study aims at determining the prevalence of depression and anxiety in tinnitus sufferers in our environment.

Method: This is a one year (April 2006 March 2007) prospective study of out-patients presenting with tinnitus to our Ear, Nose and Throat clinic who were administered the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaire until the sample size was reached.

Results: Questionnaires were administered to one hundred and four patients with tinnitus, 92 patients filled theirs correctly and these were analyzed. There were 42 (45.7%) males and 50 (54.3%) females (Table 1) with an age range of 20 to 78 years. Six hundred and eighty seven patients presented with various otologic ailments in the study period, of which 104 (15.1%) patients had tinnitus. The overall prevalence of depression was 17.4%, higher in females (9.8%) than males (7.6%). The overall prevalence of anxiety was 22.8% with males having a higher prevalence (11.9%) than females (10.9%). Three (3.2) patients had both depression and anxiety Eighty three (90.2%) patients were in the active and productive age group with 13 patients (prevalence of 14.1%) having depression and 20 patients (prevalence of 21.7%) with anxiety.

Conclusion: We recommend the screening or assessment for psychological distress in tinnitus sufferers so that patients can be adequately treated.