Anxiety and depression in tinnitus sufferers

Abstract

This paper focuses upon the relationship between tinnitus and personality. One hundred and twelve members of a tinnitus self-help group completed psychological and tinnitus questionnaires. In line with prior studies we found that tinnitus was associated with elevated anxiety trait and depression. Unlike previous work, use of a validated subjective tinnitus scale allowed us to directly test the strength of association. Although both anxiety trait and depressive tendency were significantly correlated with overall tinnitus severity, the coefficients were of low magnitude. Advancing age was related to a reduction in depressive tendency; and being male was associated with lower anxiety and depression scores. While hypothesizing a bi-directional causality between personality and the impact of tinnitus, we acknowledge that only longitudinal research can unequivocally test this.